


Build Me Up From Bones

by Half



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, reaper au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-08-24 16:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 26,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8378512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Half/pseuds/Half
Summary: It is the duty of the Reaper to send on the souls of those soon to die. To usher them to the afterlife before their deaths, to prevent their souls from being trapped on Earth forever. But you cannot Reap what you cannot See. People are dying before the Reapers are even notified to take their souls, and it's only a matter of time before the loose souls make it impossible for any to move on. With Reapers across the world being mysteriously slaughtered, the Reapers of Black Badge must determine what is blocking their foresight- before they end up the next souls ripped away without warning.





	1. The Outsiders

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr @youreagoodliar
> 
> Evil Plot Cohort: TheGaySmurf

_ FEBRUARY 15 _

 

Kiersten Lesko was going to die.

It wasn’t entirely clear when. It could be in only a few hours. It could be in a few days. Regardless, her time alive was coming to an end.

And thus, her soul had to be sent on.

She didn’t see it happen. Almost no one ever did, and anyone who caught a glimpse of the Reaper in the shadows usually brushed it off as a trick of the light. An active imagination. Sleep deprivation.

Few actually believed the sight of a pair of glowing silver eyes and a glowing silver symbol glinting from the shadows.

As Kiersten walked past the glow, a shadowy scythe reached out and brushed vertically down her spine so gently that she never felt it. A small orange sphere of light left her back and absorbed into the blade, turning the symbol on this Reaper- a crown -blue.

Kiersten paused briefly, a chill running through her body. She looked up at the night sky, but questioned nothing, shaking her head slightly and continuing on her way.

The silvery glow and the scythe both faded away as a dark-haired woman stepped out of the shadows, the same crown symbol tattooed on her right forearm in blue.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” she said, her voice low and dry. “That’s the job.”

As the woman walked off in the opposite direction of Kiersten, the screeching sounds of a car accident slashed through the darkness behind her.

She closed her eyes, picked up her pace, and left all of it in the dust.

 

+++++

 

_ FEBRUARY 16 _

****

“Did you hear what happened last night?” Waverly Earp asked as she sat down at the desk across from her older sister, Wynonna.

“Somebody died?” Wynonna asked dryly, taking a large bite out of the donut in her hand.

“That’s every night.” Waverly tapped a finger against the blue bow and arrow tattooed on her right forearm. “But yours was a hit and run.”

“Shit.” Wynonna took a chug of coffee. “I should’ve followed her and written the bastard’s plate number down.”

“Yeah, because _that_ wouldn’t have looked suspicious.” Waverly leaned back in her chair and chewed on the straw of her protein shake. “I can see the headline now. ‘LOCAL COP CONVENIENTLY SHOWS UP AT ALL MURDER SCENES; TOTALLY ISN’T KILLING PEOPLE’. It would be really subtle, Wyn.”

“Fuck off.”

“ _Earp!_ ”

“Which one?” Wynonna and Waverly asked simultaneously as Captain Randy Nedley stormed over to their desks.

“Cute. You’re very original. I wish I hadn’t made you partners.”

“Honestly, Nedley, who besides Wave could put up with me, though?” Wynonna asked innocently.

“That’s why I started this disaster in the first place.” Nedley tossed a folder onto Wynonna’s desk. “A high school kid got stabbed just outside school grounds at PS77. Solve it. Now. I’ll assign Valdez to the hit and run.”

“Yes, sir.” Wynonna held the remaining half of her donut between her teeth as she stood and swung her blazer on.

Waverly was already waiting at the elevator.

“You’re the worst sister in the world,” Wynonna muttered, heading over to Waverly and pressing the call button.

“Maybe. But I’m a better detective than you are.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

Waverly stepped into the elevator and smirked. “Because you got powdered sugar on your jacket.”

Wynonna stared down at her lapels for a long moment before joining her sister in the elevator. “Fuck off, Waverly.”

 

+++++

 

As Waverly and Wynonna arrived at the crime scene, Waverly let out a short laugh. “Check out who’s already here.”

Nicole Haught- in her normal teacher’s outfit of Dockers shoes, black slacks, a black waistcoat, a black skinny tie, and a colored button-down –was standing off to the side, away from the general crowd of observers.

“Red today,” Waverly murmured, watching as Nicole fidgeted with the knot of her tie. “Appropriate for a murder.”

“Don’t tell the poor kid that,” Wynonna said, pulling the car to a stop and putting it into park. “She’ll either panic and never wear that shirt again, or she’ll _only_ ever wear that shirt again.”

“Dork. Want me to talk to her about this? See what’s going on?”

“Yeah; sure. I’ll talk to the coroner.”

“Great.”

Waverly got out of the car and avoided the onlookers, skirting the cluster of gawking students, teachers, and press and meeting Nicole in the grass near the crime scene tape.

“Always a good morning when we meet like this, huh?” Waverly asked dryly.

“Right.” Nicole anxiously rubbed at the red sword tattoo on her forearm. “Uhm. What do you know about this? So far.”

“Nothing,” Waverly said with a shrug. “We just got here. I don’t even have a name on the victim yet.”

“Oscar Riese. Junior.” Nicole’s eyes were dark and sad, offsetting her clear anxiety. “He was in the AP Lit class I teach last period. Good kid, good home, should’ve had a good future.”

Waverly put a comforting hand on Nicole’s elbow. “I’m sorry, Nic,” she murmured. “I know how it gets; trust me.”

“I know you do. But… Wave…” Nicole swallowed and rubbed at her tattoo again. “I-I… I didn’t…”

“What?”

“I didn’t _Reap_ him, Waverly.”

“ _What?_ ” Waverly quickly glanced at the body Wynonna was examining before looking back at Nicole. “What do you mean?”

Nicole fidgeted where she stood. “I just saw him yesterday in class. His aura was still red. It never switched to green, Waverly, I swear. How am I supposed to tell that I’m supposed to Reap them if there’s no indicator?”

“You can’t know that.” Waverly looked at the dead teen again. “And I’ve never seen a time frame _that_ short before. Even Wynonna’s case last night, she was just cutting it close and got lucky.”

“So… So what does that mean?” Nicole asked.

Waverly swallowed, her eyes briefly flashing blue. “It means that that boy’s death wasn’t known. You couldn’t See it. His soul is trapped here, potentially forever.” She paused, taking in a deep breath. “And I have no idea why.”


	2. The House Rules

_ FEBRUARY 16 _

 

“Nicky, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way,” Wynonna began, leaning back in her seat at the Sickle & Scythe Pub.

“Just ask, Wynonna,” Nicole said miserably, spinning her bottle of beer between her fingers. “It’s probably nothing I haven’t asked myself a hundred times.”

“It’s just… you’re _positive_ that Oscar Riese’s aura didn’t shift from red to green? Maybe even as he was leaving the classroom or something? You felt _nothing_?”

Waverly’s eyes narrowed. “She already said she didn’t See anything, Wy.”

“I know that. I’m just making sure.”

Nicole ran a hand over her face. “I was sure, but the more I’m asked, the less positive I am. I-I… _I didn’t See anything_. But I don’t know if it wasn’t there, or if I somehow missed it.”

“You’ve been with us for three years, and you’ve had your abilities even longer than that. I really don’t think you’re going to suddenly start missing things, Nicole,” Waverly said gently.

“Yeah. I hope.” Nicole downed the rest of her bottle and stood. “I’m going up to bed. Some of my students are going to need to talk to counselors tomorrow. It’s gonna be a long day.” She headed through the door at the back of the bar.

“She’s not taking this well,” Wynonna murmured.

Waverly stared at her drink. “Would you? One of her own students was murdered. She’s used to being able to prepare herself for the death, but this time… she blames herself.”

“Do you think maybe…” Wynonna rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m not saying she missed something, Waves, but maybe Nic should get a little more training? Just to be on the safe side? I know she’s still missing a few of the nuances that you and I know.”

“I think that’s pretty fair. I’ll talk to her about it.” After a moment, Waverly said, “If we don’t solve this murder, Wy, I don’t think we’ll ever get any piece of mind on this subject.”

Wynonna took a long sip of whiskey. “Then I guess we’d better do our damn job, shouldn’t we?”

 

+++++

 

_ FEBRUARY 17 _

 

Nicole stared blankly at her students for a long moment, watching as they fidgeted awkwardly in their seats and routinely glanced at the new empty chair in the room. After a few minutes, she quietly asked, “Does anyone have anything they’d like to say?”

A hand in the back shot up.

“Sasha.”

The small girl’s voice quivered. “Ms. Haught, I-I… I know they aren’t really the _same_ , but… I-I’m not sure I can keep reading this book… after what happened to Oscar.”

Nicole traced her fingers over the cover of _The Book Thief_. “No. No, I imagine you couldn’t. The rest of you feel the same, I’m sure?”

Murmurs of agreement resounded through the room.

“That’s okay, guys.” Nicole swallowed, absentmindedly rubbing at her tattoo. “Why don’t we move the mythology unit up, huh? I won’t require anything from you the rest of the period, and you won’t have any homework over the weekend. Then on Monday we’ll start talking myths and _Percy Jackson_. Alright?”

As she looked around at her grieving students, Nicole gritted her teeth and clenched her hand into a fist.

And wished she could make it hurt less.

 

+++++

 

When Nicole got back to the Sickle & Scythe, Gus McCready was behind the bar washing glasses. The wife of a now-deceased Reaper and the woman who had somehow raised the Earp girls, Gus was not a woman to be messed with, however, if on her good side, she had a soft spot that was far more comforting than it had any right being.

“You look like you got kicked by a horse, Nic,” Gus said, squinting at her. “Are you alright?”

“It’s just been a long few days, Gus.”

“Understandable.” Gus nodded at the back door. “The girls are training. I have no idea where those idiot boys are. I think Xavier is still at work. Henry is likely hustling pool at the bar down the street.”

“Gee,” Nicole said with a grin, “I don’t know why he never hustles here.”

“Because I’d whip his ass. Now go on; I think the girls were waiting for you.”

“Oh god.”

In the basement of the Sickle & Scythe there was a training room specifically designed to handle the type of energy a Reaper could produce- the strength in a fight, the power in a scythe.

Wynonna and Waverly were in the practice ring, dueling with their scythes. While the weapon was primarily a tool occasionally used for defense, with magical deflection capabilities that allowed it to protect its wielder from potential magical harm, the older families of Reapers had insisted upon a more active and offensive training routine for the scythe.

With the Earps and Henry’s family, the Hollidays, two of the only original families still left in the world, Nicole had found herself of the opinion that the offensive tactic didn’t seem to do much good.

Regardless, watching the sisters like this was _fascinating_. They had been training practically since birth, and it showed, with both of them reacting instinctively to the other’s movements and spinning their scythes with a speed and accuracy that Nicole didn’t even think possible.

The duel ended when Wynonna extended her scythe at the very last moment during a sweep, knocking Waverly’s feet out from under her. As she rested the heel of the scythe against Waverly’s throat, Wynonna grinned.

“You suck at this, dude.”

“You cheated,” Waverly grumbled. “We said no extension or retraction.”

“Actually, _you_ said that, and I never agreed,” Wynonna said with a smirk, holding out a hand to help her little sister to her feet.

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say.”

“That’s how I roll.” Wynonna swirled her scythe once and it disappeared into smoke. She caught sight of Nicole and waved a hand. “Hey, Nicky. How was your day?”

“Sucked. My kids were upset.” Nicole put her bags down and climbed into the ring. “That’s to be expected, though. Everyone’s upset.”

“Are you feeling okay? Feeling good?”

“Yeah; I’m fine. I actually Reaped two people on the way home. Looked like two college students. A part of me wonders what’s going to happen there, but… I know the rules.”

“You do. It’s hard to follow them; trust me, I get it.” Wynonna rested a hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “But if we spend too much time _wondering_ , then we’ll care _too much_. We have to care, obviously. But not so much that we end up getting ourselves hurt trying to stop the inevitable. Right?”

“Right.” Nicole loosened her tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of her purple shirt. “Gus thought you were looking for me?”

“Yeah, actually.” Wynonna stuck her thumbs in her belt loops. “So that you feel a bit more confident in yourself, I was wondering if you’d train a bit with Wave. Up your power arsenal, improve your control, work out any kinks. That way, you don’t need to worry about whether or not you’re missing anything. Sound good?”

Nicole gave a sigh of relief. “Sounds great, actually.”

“Good.” Wynonna’s scythe appeared in her hand, and she sliced it down thin air. By the time the motion was complete, she and her tool were gone.

“God I love shadowwalking,” Nicole muttered under her breath.

“You didn’t like it much when you first got here,” Waverly teased, spinning her scythe out of existence.

“Uh, yeah, because I didn’t know how to do it, and the electrical energies caused by my powers kept basically electrocuting me every time I tried. It hurt like hell.”

“Hopefully we can avoid that today. Bring your scythe out.”

Nicole held out her hand, concentrating the energy in her body at the palm of her hand. Her shadowy black scythe formed in her hand, the comfortable presence so familiar now that her hand didn’t even move as the weight was added.

“Alright. Now, you’ve got the Reaping part down, but you’re lacking in the offensive areas. You may never be on the level Wynonna, Henry, and I are at, and that’s fine, but you still need to know more than you do now. It’s the only way to build your confidence _and_ to be safe out there.”

“You’re pitching this pretty hard,” Nicole said dryly. “I take it that it’ll be difficult? Or that it’ll hurt?”

“Probably both.” Waverly took a step towards her. “You’re not _scared_ , are you?”

“Of you? Absolutely.”

Waverly grinned. “Good answer. You’re really gonna wear the suit and tie, aren’t you?”

“It’s like you said the last time,” Nicole said, rolling up her sleeves. “If I’m going to wear this every day, I had better know how to Reap in it.”

“Whatever you want. It’s your funeral.”

“Ouch, Waves.”

Grinning broader now, Waverly beckoned with her hand. “Here, hand me your scythe. I know just what move to start with, and it’ll be easier to demonstrate with your own weapon.”

Nicole tossed her scythe over to Waverly, who caught it easily.

The minute it touched her fingers, they both froze.

She had no idea what Waverly was feeling, but _Nicole_ was feeling like she had just been punched in the stomach, dunked headfirst into a bucket of ice water, and electrocuted five times by an improper shadowwalk. She could feel a pull at the base of her spine, and as she stared stupidly at Waverly, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that her tattoo was flickering with a red glow.

Waverly was pale, but whatever she was feeling seemed to pass her over far quicker than it was leaving Nicole. She quickly handed Nicole back her scythe, muttering, “Maybe it would be better if I just showed you on mine and you copied me.”

“What… Do you know what that…” Nicole tried to ask, her voice hoarse.

“I’ve never felt…” Waverly trailed off and cleared her throat. “Uhm. We should. We should get started, right?”

“Y-Yeah,” Nicole stammered. “Right.”

Waverly summoned her scythe, spinning it rapidly between her fingers as if trying to distract herself. Nicole did everything she could to do the same, swallowing and shoving aside whatever feeling had just devastated her.

They went through the rest of the training session without mentioning it again.


	3. All Jacked Up

_ FEBRUARY 18 _

 

Waverly had made a promise to herself years prior. Her personal life, her Reaper work, and her human career were three separate spheres of her existence. For the most part, she managed this successfully. Her cases always impacted her just a bit harder when they involved a person whose soul she had taken, and the handful of times she or Wynonna had Reaped a coworker before they died– or were killed –weighed on both of them, but they had been born into this life. They understood how it worked.

Mostly.

Her fingers still felt a bit numb where they had touched Nicole’s scythe. When she remembered that split second, the chill that ran through her body ran through her again. Whatever it was, it wasn’t something she had ever experienced before. It wasn’t something she understood.

She didn’t like that, and it was distracting.

Waverly and Wynonna didn’t typically work on weekends, but when strange or unsettling cases came in late in the week, they usually ended up in the office. Waverly was _supposed_ to be studying Oscar Riese’s cell records to find out who he last spoke to before he died. _Instead_ she was staring blankly at the papers in front of her, the words and numbers blurring.

“Dude, do you need more coffee or something?”

“Hm?” Waverly looked up at Wynonna, blinking rapidly.

“You’ve been staring at the same twenty numbers for about forty-five minutes. Are you okay?”

“Oh. Uh, yeah. I’m fine.” Waverly rubbed at her eyes. “I’m just tired.”

Wynonna snorted. “Same. We’ll wrap up what we’ve got going here, then head home. The boys promised they’d pay for pizza and beer tonight, so at least we have that to look forward to.”

“Right. Good.” After several more minutes of staring at nothing, Waverly gave up. She slid the phone records into the case file on her desk and stood, slinging her down jacket on. “I’m being summoned. I’ll take care of this on Monday, okay?”

“Sure. The dead can wait when the almost-dead are calling.” Wynonna took a small sip of her coffee. “You’re sure you’re okay, Wave?”

“Yeah, Wy. I’m fine.”

Waverly glanced around to make sure no one was within sight before rapidly forming her scythe and slashing it through the air. She felt a brief weightlessness, a surge of energy, then she was standing in the shadows in an alley near the local movie theatre.

For hours, Waverly just stood there. No one saw her. No one _could_ see her. She blended into the shadows as easily as if she wasn’t there at all. So she stood, and she waited.

The sun was starting to set when a family started to walk past the alley. A young couple and two small children, the youngest of whom was riding on her father’s shoulders.

Waverly felt a faint heat under the sleeve of her coat, and she knew that her tattoo was glowing blue. Auras appeared around every person within her line of sight- gray for everyone outside her Reaping age range (26-59), blue for everyone within it. And then, after a faint flicker, the father’s aura switched from blue to orange.

With a small sigh, Waverly turned out of the alley, the shadows against the buildings disguising her as she trailed behind the family and her tattoo and eyes turned silver. Her scythe formed in her hand, and as the family turned into the movie theatre’s entrance, it quickly extended out, allowing her to swipe it down the man’s spine. His pale orange soul absorbed into Waverly’s scythe, and before the silver glow had even died down, Waverly sliced her scythe through the air and shadowwalked away.

 

+++++

 

John Henry “Doc” Holliday was an orderly at a nursing home, Reaping the sixty and older bracket, and he had picked up the nickname from the little old ladies who would all marry him in a heartbeat. He was charming and attentive and respectful, and he could hold a conversation with them as easily as if he had lived as long a life as they had.

He could not, however, remember to bring alcohol to a family dinner.

“One of these days, Doc, I’m going to stab you in the face,” Wynonna grumbled as she shoved past Doc and headed behind the bar.

“We’re in a _bar_ ,” he protested, tossing his hat onto the table and taking a seat, putting his feet up on the table. “There’s plenty of alcohol here.”

“Gus upcharges us; you know that,” Xavier Dolls said, knocking Doc’s feet off and setting down pizza boxes. “She says we’ll clean her out otherwise.”

Xavier was The Responsible One, a serious man who worked a Latch Key afterschool program with kids during the school year and a camp during the summer. He had moved to Purgatory to take over the fourteen and under age bracket of Reaping that had been empty after the death of Wynonna and Waverly’s uncle Curtis a few years before Nicole joined their group, and, while he was still getting used to some of Purgatory’s quirks, he was a born Reaper with skills almost on par with those of both Earps and Doc.

“Hey, guys, sorry I’m late,” Nicole’s voice said as she appeared out of nowhere, pulling the blue and bronze scarf from around her neck as she walked. She hung it and her wool coat on the coatrack and took a seat across from Waverly. “Traffic was terrible,” she joked.

“You’re never late,” Xavier commented. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine. I just… wanted to skim around the city. Make sure I didn’t miss anything.”

“I don’t think you did, Nicole,” Waverly said softly

Nicole shot the smallest of glances at Waverly and didn’t respond.

“Okay.” Wynonna set a case of beer down on the table and took a seat between Waverly and Doc. “Pizza, beer… Nicky, you got playing cards?”

With a nod, Nicole pulled a deck of cards out of her waistcoat and handed them to Wynonna.

“Great. Time for me to rob you all of money.”

Doc snorted. “Sweetheart,” he said as Wynonna began to shuffle the deck, “that is _never_ going to happen.”

 

+++++

 

_ FEBRUARY 19 _

 

The poker game hadn’t made it any easier.

Waverly was still lost in that jolt from touching Nicole’s scythe, and it _bothered_ her. She couldn’t explain it. But she knew someone who probably could.

In a dark alley, far out of the way and nowhere a normal human would ever venture, Peacemaker Tattoo was a Reaper facility that provided the magical ink that branded every full-fledged, fully-activated Reaper’s skin. It was run by a woman known only as The Blacksmith, who, while not a Reaper, knew more about them than anyone.

Even Waverly, who was an _Earp_ \- one of the first families of Reapers to ever exist.

As Waverly stepped into the shop, she felt the small tingling surge of energy that brushed across her skin upon every visit. According to Wynonna, it was different for everyone who entered. It was the shadow energy within reacting to a Reaper’s presence and reaching out for attention.

The Blacksmith was standing in the middle of the shop, hands loosely in her pockets, when Waverly walked in.

“Let me guess,” Waverly said dryly. “You knew I was coming.”

“I always know. Let me see how my work is doing.”

Waverly held up her arm, and The Blacksmith pushed her jacket sleeve back to view the blue bow and arrow tattoo.

“Hm.”

“What’s ‘hm’?” Waverly asked. “Don’t ‘hm’ me.”

“You’re troubled. Your energies show it plainly.” The Blacksmith pulled Waverly over to the leather client chair and pushed her into it. “I’ll refresh your mark. And you can tell me why you came here.”

Waverly’s breath caught in her throat as The Blacksmith pulled a black stone bowl filled with jet black liquid out from behind the counter. “I’m not sure I can go through that again.”

“Nonsense. It’s just refreshing. It’s not _marking_ you. You’ll be fine.” The Blacksmith pushed Waverly’s sleeve past her elbow. “Just relax, little Earp.”

“Are you ever just going to call me ‘Earp’?”

“No.” The Blacksmith set the bowl on the arm of the chair, lifted Waverly’s hand, and rested it in the black liquid.

Waverly let out a sharp gasp as her entire body went cold. Just as quickly, the icy feeling eased out to a dull, soothing warmth, and a faint electrical feeling began to build in her tattoo as it pulsed lightly with its blue glow.

“While it works,” The Blacksmith said softly, “talk.”

“Uhm.” Waverly swallowed, trying to gather her thoughts. “A… _friend of mine_ …” She swore she could see amusement light in The Blacksmith’s eyes, but she swallowed again and continued, “A friend of mine felt… _weird_ … after touching… another Reaper’s scythe? And I, uh, I’m just not sure why that would, er, _happen_. Because I grew up with Wynonna and Doc; we’ve all traded scythes back and forth as easily as we’re talking. So… uhm, why would _this friend_ be having this feeling?”

“Well, what is this _feeling_ like?”

“Numbness in fingers and a chill through the body. And sort of a quick, electrical pull.”

The Blacksmith smiled slightly. “Waverly Earp, you should listen to your powers. They know you better than you do.”

“I- What? This is for a friend.”

“Ah, yes. And I’m sure that’s exactly what you’ve been telling yourself, too.”

Waverly fidgeted awkwardly, careful not to move her hand in the bowl of black liquid. “Look, Blacksmith, I… Can you just… What is it?”

“Attraction, child.”

“I’m not an _idiot_. I know what _attraction_ feels like.”

“This is different.” The Blacksmith tapped her on the forehead. “Whatever’s going on in _there_ isn’t matching what’s in your _heart_. You know less than your emotions do. Your subconscious is falling in love. And that buildup of emotion, of _feeling_ , of _caring_ , well, it builds up in your shadow energy as well. Causes something of a feedback. When you touched the other Reaper’s scythe, your own passion reverberated on you, and you, basically, got momentarily sick from your own powers.”

Waverly stared at her for a long moment, mentally arguing with herself. She didn’t have feelings for Nicole. Unless she did. But she _couldn’t_. Nicole was a nerdy rookie who was certainly _attractive_ and _adorable_ but that didn’t mean…

“Oh,” Waverly whispered.

“Now you’re getting somewhere.”

“How do I… But I can’t just… How do I stop the reverberations?”

The Blacksmith raised an eyebrow. “Resolve the feelings. One way or another.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“You’re one of the smarter Reapers I’ve seen. You’ll figure it out.” The Blacksmith carefully lifted Waverly’s hand out of the ink, and another brief rush of coldness ran through Waverly’s body. “I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you, little Earp. The rest you have to figure out for yourself. Think you can manage that?”

Waverly flexed her hand a few times, watching as the gentle glowing pulse of her tattoo started to fade. “I guess we’ll see.”

 

+++++

 

_ FEBRUARY 22 _

 

“Your back leg is completely unguarded. I can do _this_ so easily when you stand like that.” Waverly giggled as Nicole toppled onto the floor. “You’re certainly enjoying the ground today, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, because you keep kicking my ass,” Nicole grumbled. “Do you have like an Easy Mode? Beginner Level? An off switch?”

“Funnily enough, I _am_ taking it easy on you,” Waverly said, holding out a hand to help Nicole to her feet.

“Oh, great. I just suck, then.”

“You’re not awful, but you aren’t _me_ , either.”

Nicole snorted and adjusted her tie. “Somebody’s humble.”

Waverly put her hands on her hips. “Excuse me, Haught, I’m the _most humble_ in _this entire building_. And I will brag about that as much as I want.”

“Oh, will you now?”

“Yes. I will.”

Nicole grinned cheekily and took a step towards her. “That’s _so_ humble of you. I should get you a billboard on Tenth Street. ‘Waverly Earp: Most Humble Reaper Ever’. You’d get a fan club.”

“I _deserve_ one, thank you very much. I-”

Waverly broke off as Nicole suddenly formed her scythe and swung it upward at Waverly’s face. The move _almost_ caught Waverly completely off-guard, causing her to all but scramble to deflect.

Her scythe slammed into Nicole’s with tooth-shattering force, knocking both of them backwards to the floor and sending their scythes scattering.

“Ow,” Nicole said, rubbing the back of her neck as she stood back up. “Remind me never to do that again.”

“Never do that again,” Waverly joked.

She watched as Nicole bent down to pick up her scythe- _Waverly’s_ scythe.

Waverly almost stopped her, but hesitated.

She wanted to know.

The moment Nicole’s fingers touched her scythe, Waverly felt four things simultaneously: a hard pain in her gut, a shockingly cold feeling in her head, the kind of electrical surge of pain that usually only accompanied improper use of her abilities, and a pulling sensation at the base of her spine. Her tattoo flickered its blue glow.

It was _overwhelming_ , and it had ripped her apart, and she could tell from the look on Nicole’s face that she had felt the same counter effects that Waverly herself had felt the week prior.

“Waverly,” Nicole whispered, “what’s happening to us?”

For a moment, she said nothing. Then Waverly stood and walked over to her. “Nicole,” she murmured. “Shut up.”

She grabbed Nicole by her tie, yanked her down, and kissed her.

The pulse of electricity that rocked through Waverly’s body was almost as strong, if not _stronger_ , than the hum of power she felt whenever she went into the silver glow of her full Reaper mode. She needed _more_ , and tried to keep Nicole where she was, but she relented when Nicole pulled back and stared at her in utter confusion.

“What-”

“Energy buildup,” Waverly muttered. “Some sort of exchange. Emotions. Bullshit.”

“… What?”

“Does it really matter right now?”

Nicole’s pause was so brief it almost didn’t even register as a hesitation. “Not at all.”

“Oh, thank hell.” Waverly tightened her grip on Nicole’s tie and dragged her back in for another, longer kiss.


	4. Family Tree

_ JUNE 14 – TWENTY YEARS AGO _

 

“Peter, please, you can’t just walk out like this.”

“What are you going to do, steal my soul? I can do whatever I need to do to get away from a goddamn _freak_ like you.”

“You think I _asked_ for this? _Fuck_ , Peter, I don’t even know how it _happened_. I just woke up one day and suddenly I’m the Grim Fucking Reaper. This isn’t my fault, I don’t know how to handle it, and I _need_ you.”

Peter scoffed. “What you need is to stay the hell away from me, Rachel.” He slammed his suitcase shut and headed for the front door. “I’ll give you the address of a storage unit. Load the rest of my stuff into it by next weekend, and I’ll pick it up at an unscheduled point in time afterwards. So that I don’t have to worry about you _killing me_.”

“You know damn well that I wouldn’t do that,” Rachel spat, storming after him. “What are you going to do, Peter? Just leave and never communicate with me again? _Ever?_ You can’t expect me to just raise your kid on my own. You can’t just _abandon her_ , just because you’re too much of a coward to deal with these new… _powers_ , or _whatever_ that I’m going through.”

Peter looked up at his ten-year-old, a little girl crouched at the top of the stairs, watching them in silence. “For all I know, she’s _just like you_ now. I can’t trust either one of you. I want nothing to do with her if she could even _possibly_ be a _thing_ like you. I’m not a coward, Rachel. I’m _smart_.” At that he grabbed his jacket, tightened his grip on his suitcase, and left the house, slamming the door behind him.

After several moments of utter silence, the child’s small voice said, “Mom?”

Rachel hurried up the steps, crouching down in front of her daughter. “Hey, baby. It’s okay. It’ll be fine.”

The girl swallowed. “I-Is… Is Dad gonna come back?”

“I… I’m not sure, baby, but I-I don’t think so.” Rachel stroked her hand over the girl’s red hair and softly kissed her forehead. “But we’ll be okay, Nicole. I promise.”

 

+++++

 

_ SEPTEMBER 3 – TWENTY YEARS AGO _

 

Waverly was old enough that she didn’t need anyone to protect her. It didn’t prevent her from clutching onto her big sister as if her life depended on it.

Because, in that moment, it _did_.

Wynonna’s arm was tight around her back, holding her close and tucking her head under her chin. The older girl’s free hand was gripping her scythe tightly, pointing it wildly between their father and their oldest sister.

“It won’t hurt, Wynonna,” Willa Earp said, her voice cold. “Father promised.”

“Please,” Wynonna rasped, tightening her grip on Waverly. “Please, you don’t have to do this.”

“But we do, baby.” Ward Earp fidgeted with the glassy gold revolver in his hand. “It’s the only way we can get what we need to truly be _free_.”

“Daddy, _please_ , we can… we can figure this out. We can figure… _something_ out.” Wynonna backed away from her father and sister, dragging Waverly with her, almost tripping on a rock.

“There are no other options, Wynonna. You and Waverly have to die.”

Willa snickered. “And neither of you are activated Reapers yet. You don’t have full power access. You aren’t _real_ Reapers.”

Wynonna shook her head. “You aren’t Reapers anymore, either.”

“That, baby, is why we can’t let the two of you keep living.” Ward raised his revolver and aimed it at Wynonna’s head, his eyes glowing gold. Willa copied him, aiming at Waverly.

“Please, don’t. Don’t.” Wynonna closed her eyes. “ _No!_ ”

Her scythe extended and changed shape so fast that neither Ward nor Willa saw it coming. It split into two sharp ends and stabbed them both through the heart.

Waverly whimpered and gripped Wynonna’s shirt as her father and sister fell to the ground, their eyes going dark and the revolvers flickering out of existence.

When Wynonna opened her eyes, her scythe vanished. She fell to the ground, still holding Waverly.

They both sat there on the ground, huddled together, shaking and staring at the bodies of their family members.

And waiting for someone– _anyone_ –to come help them.

 

+++++

 

_ AUGUST 11 – THIRTEEN YEARS AGO _

 

“The programs at this school are _amazing_ , Mom,” Nicole said, bouncing back and forth between her feet as her mother prepared dinner. “Not only do they have a great teaching program, but their English department is _incredible_. I can learn _so much_ there. And the _books_ they read! Not just the stuffy or ‘classic’ ones, but some unique and modern ones, too! It would be _fantastic_!”

Rachel watched with a small smile as her daughter half-jogged around the kitchen table, absorbed in the information packet from the college she was considering. “Baby, you don’t need to convince me. I already told you I approved.”

“Convince? No, Mom, I’m just _excited_.” Nicole put the packet down and started gesturing wildly as she talked. “Their library is _huge_. Do you know how many _books_ they probably have in there? It would be-”

She broke off as a shadowy scythe suddenly formed in her hand, narrowly missing the light. Nicole gave a sharp yelp and fell backwards onto the floor, holding the scythe stiffly in the air.

“M-Mom?”

Rachel just stared at her, pale. “Oh, no,” she whispered. “Oh, baby, not you too. They told me… the woman at the tattoo shop I was drawn to… she told me Reapers came of age at fifteen. When nothing happened on your birthday I just assumed…”

Nicole swallowed, staring at the scythe tight in her grip. “Is this… what you can do?”

“Yes. There’s more. Some I understand; some I don’t.” Rachel crouched in front of her daughter and put her palm on her cheek. “And none of which I wanted for you.”

 

+++++

 

_ SEPTEMBER 19 – THIRTEEN YEARS AGO _

 

“Are you ready for this, kiddo?”

Waverly looked up at Wynonna, fidgeting eagerly. “I’ve been ready for _years_.”

Wynonna playfully pushed her sister’s head to one side. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Do you want Henry to come in too, or wait outside?”

The young man was leaning against the wall of the tattoo parlor, looking off down the alley as if he wasn’t listening. Waverly smiled. “I _guess_ he can come too. He’s _here_ , isn’t he?”

Wynonna grinned and put an arm around Waverly’s shoulders. “That’s my girl.”

“If I was your girl I would’ve told him to get lost.”

Henry snorted. “She has a very fair point, Wynonna.”

“Stuff it, Holliday. Go on, Waves.”

Waverly took a slow, deep breath and stepped into Peacemaker Tattoo.

A wave of tingling energy surged over her skin and made her falter. Wynonna gripped her shoulders and leaned down, her voice skimming over Waverly’s ear.

“You feel it, don’t you, Waves?” she whispered. “It’s different for everyone. The energy reaches out for you. It’s okay.” She kissed the back of Waverly’s head. “It’s okay.”

Waverly paused for a moment longer to adjust to the sensation, then headed deeper into the shop, where a woman stood next to a client chair.

“The little Earp,” the woman said, her voice quiet. “I knew I’d see you at some point. Fifteen already?”

“T-Today,” Waverly stammered.

“Good. Come here, please.”

The woman gently pushed Waverly into the chair and raised the right sleeve of Waverly’s shirt. “I am The Blacksmith. I speak to the shadows.”

“Are you a Reaper?” Waverly asked.

“No. But I know what you do.” The Blacksmith pulled a black bowl out from behind the counter and set it on the arm of the chair. “This will feel odd, little one. Strange. Intense. Maybe more than you bargained for. But it is what you need in this world you are in. Understood.”

Waverly’s anxious look caught Wynonna’s eyes, hazel to blue, and she was comforted by the calming glint there. She nodded. “Understood.”

“Good. Relax. Close your eyes.”

Waverly shut her eyes, and The Blacksmith lifted her hand, sinking it into the black ink.

Her breath stopped as her entire body went ice cold and an intense burning sensation ripped through her arm. She wanted to move by couldn’t, frozen in place as agony thundered deep into her skull. Just as quickly as It had started it was gone, the only thing remaining the sharp stabs of pain in her arm.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a blue bow and arrow tattoo on her arm.

“The bow and arrow,” The Blacksmith said softly. “Symbol of one who is brave and honest.”

Wynonna held out a hand to help Waverly out of the chair. She hugged her little sister tightly. “You’ll be good at this, baby girl,” she whispered. “I know you will.”

In a voice so soft that Waverly thought she wasn’t supposed to hear it, Wynonna added, “Hopefully better than me.”

 

+++++

 

_ DECEMBER 3 – THREE YEARS AGO _

 

The door of the Sickle & Scythe slammed open so hard that it startled Gus, but none of the four Reapers at the table in front of her had much reaction. Wynonna looked up at the woman standing in the doorway and narrowed her eyes when she noticed the shadowy scythe gripped tightly in her hand.

“Kid, uhm, you’re not really supposed to just wave those around outside, you know,” she said.

“Th-They… They…” The young woman collapsed onto her knees, and Gus and the four– Wynonna, Waverly, Doc, and Dolls –were all over to her in an instant.

“Hey, look at me.” Wynonna put her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “What’s going on? What happened?”

The woman had a deep gash on her face and was out of breath as if she had been running for miles. That alone was unusual for a Reaper.

So was the deep fear in her eyes.

“Things. I don’t know. Gold eyes. They…” She swallowed, and her voice got quieter. “They killed my mom.”

“Is your mom a Reaper?” Doc asked.

“Y-Yes.”

Wynonna and Doc exchanged a long look before Wynonna murmured, “Revenants.”

He nodded and stood. “They chased you?”

The woman nodded. “They’re _chasing_ me. I was at 5 th & Market and something just… told me to come down here. So I did. I don’t think I lost them.”

“We’ll handle it. Dolls? Doc? Waverly, stay here with her and Gus.”

Wynonna, Dolls, and Doc all vanished.

Gus looked at the shaking woman for a moment before gently pulling her to her feet. “C’mon, kid. Sit down. I’ll get you some water.”

As she made her way behind the bar, she watched as Waverly crouched down in front of the woman and carefully pulled her scythe away, setting it on the floor.

“What’s your name?”

“N-Nicole Haught.”

“You must be the teen and young adult Reaper. We wondered where they were, but we never could quite figure it out.”

“That was my mom. I’m just… a spare, I guess.”

Waverly shook her head, resting her hands on Nicole’s knees. “My sister and I are both active Reapers for the same age group. Sometimes it just happens. Nothing wrong with it. Doesn’t make you less of what you are.”

“I barely know what I am,” Nicole whispered. “I’ve had a scythe for ten years and I barely understand it.”

“We can help you with that,” Waverly said. “You’re one of us.”

“What’s to stop… those _things_?”

“This place is protected. The whole building. We’re safe here. It’s why you were drawn here. You’re _safe_.” Waverly’s grip on Nicole’s knees tightened. “I’m sorry about your mom, Nicole.”

Nicole rested her hands on top of Waverly’s, her eyes dark. “I’m sorry too.”

 

+++++

 

_ FEBRUARY 22 – PRESENT DAY _

 

“Wow,” Nicole whispered as Waverly finally broke the kiss and pulled away from her.

Waverly giggled. “ _That’s_ what you’re going to say?”

Nicole flushed red. “That’s all I really _can_ say.”

“You’re cute.” Waverly fixed Nicole’s tie and pressed a quick, soft kiss to her lips. “It’s really quite dangerous.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the most dangerous thing in the room, at least as far as my heart’s concerned.”

Waverly grinned and brushed her fingers across Nicole’s cheek. “That’s the goal.”

Nicole stared softly at her for a long moment. “What do you want from me, Waverly? I’m not sure I have much to offer.”

“Oh, Nicole.” Waverly gently stroked the back of Nicole’s neck. “If only you knew how wrong you are.”


	5. Beautiful Mess

_ FEBRUARY 23 _

 

Waverly jumped when Wynonna slammed a picture down on her desk. “ _Jesus_ , Wynonna, what-”

“It wasn’t Nicky’s fault,” Wynonna growled. “That soul not showing up. It wasn’t her fault.”

“I didn’t think it was, but why-”

“Because _it happened to us too_.”

Waverly’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I was just talking to Valdez. She mentioned a case she has going right now. A murder. _This_ chick.” Wynonna pointed at the photo of a woman who was riddled with bullet wounds. “You didn’t take her soul, did you?”

“No. I don’t recognize her at all.”

“I didn’t think so; because you tell me about your Reapings. I didn’t take her either, and she’s square in our age range. But it _didn’t happen_.”

Waverly stared at the photograph for a long moment. “Wynonna, what’s happening?”

Wynonna picked up Waverly’s coffee mug and took a sip of it. “I have no idea. But I have a feeling that we aren’t looking for anything _human_ doing these murders. God, could you put more cream in your coffee?”

“We aren’t all monsters,” Waverly retorted, pulling her mug away from her sister. She took a slow sip, her eyes darkening. “You’re saying Revenants.”

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Wynonna cleared her throat and looked away. “Well, I don’t really like talking about those bastards. Not after they killed Daddy and Willa.”

Waverly narrowed her eyes. “Right. Of course.”

“It can’t be them,” Wynonna muttered under her breath. “I don’t think I’ll survive another one of _them_.”

“You wouldn’t be alone, you know,” Waverly said softly, squeezing Wynonna’s knee.

Wynonna leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to Waverly’s temple before getting behind her desk. “Yeah, I know. Doesn’t make me any happier.”

“Few things make you happy,” Waverly pointed out.

“Don’t make me throw this pen at you, jackass.”

Waverly gave a small smile and looked back down at the photo Wynonna had left on her desk. As a chill ran down her spine, she flipped the photo upside-down, and went back to work.

 

+++++

 

Nicole gave a tired sigh and rubbed at her eyes as she marked a grade on the last quiz in her stack from her previous class. She leaned back in her chair and fixed her tie.

“You really do look cute when you’re in work mode, I must say.”

Blinking, Nicole looked up and focused on the shadows in the back of her classroom until Waverly stepped out of them. Nicole gave a shy smile. “I didn’t realize you were there,” she admitted.

“Yeah, and I’ve been there for like an hour. You should work on that, Haught.”

“I… you were not there for an hour.”

Waverly walked around Nicole’s desk and leaned against it, using a finger to trace up Nicole’s jaw and tilt her head. “Oh, babe. I totally was.”

“Fuck.”

“Quite a mouth on you.” Waverly kissed Nicole slowly. “Maybe I should do something about that.”

Nicole’s ears went pink. “U-Uhm. I’m at work, Waverly.”

“That’s what the night’s for.”

The pink spread to Nic’s cheeks. “Uhm.”

Waverly laughed and kissed her again. “For a badass Reaper, you’re quite the nerd, Nicole Haught.”

“It’s only been like a day; I still don’t know what to do with you.”

“Oh.” Waverly leaned down so that her mouth was right next to Nicole’s ear. “I can think of _several_ things you can do with me, Haught.”

Nicole reached for her bottle of water and took a long sip from it. “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”

Waverly pressed a kiss to Nicole’s cheek and stood. “No. I’m in love with you. I wouldn’t kill you.” With a grin, her scythe formed in her hand, and she disappeared.

Nicole paused, frowning as she stared at the spot Waverly had been standing in. After a long moment, she stammered, “Wait, you _what_?”

There was no response from the thin air.

She was still staring blankly when her next class filtered into the room. As she composed herself, clearing her throat and straightening the piles of paper on her desk, one of the boys in a front desk started snickering.

“Hey, Ms. Haught?”

“Yes, Patrick?” Nicole asked, looking up at the teen. She immediately worried about what he was going to say given the grin on his face.

“Can I give you a fist bump?”

“Uh… Sure?”

Patrick jumped up, walked over to her desk, and held up his fist, still grinning.

As she tapped her own fist against his slowly, Nicole asked, “Why are we doing this? What did you do and who do I need to talk out of giving you detention, Pat?”

“Nobody. I’m just congratulating you.” He winked and got back in his seat. “Your girl’s a ten.”

Nicole flushed red. “I… what…”

One of Patrick’s friends, a girl in the back of the class named Vina, giggled. “Ms. Haught’s gonna get laid.”

There was a round of ‘ooooooo’ all around the classroom, and Nicole stammered, “I-I’m… not… I mean… I might… _This is not a conversation about literature_.”

Laughter echoed around her, and Patrick leaned forward on his desk. “But it’s _interesting_ , Ms. Haught. Vina and I walked past the room right before class and heard your… _friend_ talking. And you’re in _trouble_. What’s trouble’s name, Ms. Haught?”

“Holy hell. Please stop.” Nicole cleared her throat, fully aware that she was almost as red as her hair. She stood, just a bit shakily, and fumbled to pick up the book they were studying. “L-Let’s just get back to this. Shall we? Let’s do schoolwork. We’re in school.”

“Fine, but only because we’re proud of you,” another voice said from the back of the room, and another sharp laugh ran through the room.

Nicole pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes briefly. “You guys are going to drive me to an early retirement, you know that?”

Patrick shrugged. “More time with your girl.”

“Oh, geez.” Shaking her head, Nicole flipped to the chapter they had been working on the day before.

And tried not to be distracted by wondering whether Waverly was serious.

 

+++++

 

Nicole paced around her apartment for almost an hour when she got home after work. She paced, and paced, and paced, until finally she had enough and walked over to Waverly’s apartment and knocked on the door.

Waverly opened it and looked her up and down slowly, smiling. “Well, Professor. Somebody’s eager.”

“I’m mostly just confused,” Nicole admitted. “About most things. I don’t really get why you-”

She broke off as Waverly yanked her into the apartment by her tie and used Nicole’s back to shut the door.

“Do you feel that?” Waverly asked, her voice a low murmur.

“Uh. Your _hand_ , or…”

Waverly chuckled softly and skimmed her hand up to rest on Nicole’s shoulder. “No. The shadows.” She kissed Nicole, letting the tiny sparks surge through both of them like they had the day before, and like they had earlier in Nicole’s classroom.

“Oh, yeah, I feel _that_.” Nicole swallowed. “You never did properly explain.”

“I asked The Blacksmith about it. Apparently, the thing that happened with our scythes? That’s all just unrequited, subconscious feelings building up in our powers.” Waverly brushed her palm against Nicole’s cheek. “And given the fact that it happened to _both_ of us? It’s _happening_ to both of us.”

“Well. That certainly explains a few things. It doesn’t explain how _you_ could like _me_ , but…”

“Don’t do that. You’re a brilliant, gorgeous woman, and a good Reaper. Don’t do that to yourself.” Waverly idly played with the sleeve of Nicole’s shirt. “I want you, Nicole. Please. Don’t _doubt_ that.”

Nicole kissed her. “I’m not sure I can promise _that_ , but I’ll certainly _try_.”

“Good.” Waverly looked down at Nicole’s arm, frowning slightly. “What’s on your arm?”

“Oh. Er…”

Waverly pushed up Nicole’s shirt and saw an elastic half-sleeve covering Nicole’s tattoo. “Nicole? What is this?”

“Force of habit,” Nicole muttered. “I’m sorry.”

“But what _is_ it?”

“I… I always wear it if I think I might…”

“Get laid?”

Nicole winced. “Yes. I don’t need it with you, necessarily, but I was just… a bit embarrassed…”

Waverly laughed quietly and brushed her thumb across Nicole’s cheek. “Your tattoo flickers during sex sometimes, doesn’t it?”

“Is that normal?”

“It’s the adrenaline power. It’s fine. Mine’s done it before too.” Waverly carefully peeled the sleeve off of Nicole’s arm and gently ran her fingers across the sword tattoo. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Nic. You don’t have the same level of control as those of us who have been learning this stuff since we were born. But there’s nothing _wrong_ with that.”

Nicole swallowed as the touch against her tattoo sent prickles of energy across her skin. “What’s the adrenaline-”

Waverly kissed her, interrupting her. “Can we talk about it later?” she mumbled against Nicole’s lips.

“A-Absolutely,” Nicole stammered.

“Good.” Waverly yanked Nicole down by her tie and kissed her again.

 

+++++

 

“I love you.”

If the tone of Nicole’s words didn’t stop Waverly, the flickering silver in her brown eyes absolutely would have.

“Hey.” Waverly brushed her palm against Nicole’s cheek and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Are you okay?”

Nicole closed her eyes briefly, taking in a deep breath. “I-I’m fine.”

“Nic, I don’t want you doing something just because I talk you into it. Especially not if-”

“Waverly.” Nicole kissed her slowly. “I’m _good_. I love you. _Want_ you. Please. I’m fine. Believe me.”

“… Okay.” Waverly gave a soft smile. “You’re glowing.”

Nicole gave a panicked look down at her arm and saw that her tattoo was lit up silver. “That’s new. It’s usually red.”

“Wow, Haught, you must have it bad for me.”

“You have no idea.” Nicole blinked rapidly. “A-Are my eyes…”

Waverly brushed her thumb over Nicole’s cheekbone. “Silver. And beautiful. Never think otherwise.” She allowed her blue glow to flicker into her eyes and lightly bit at Nicole’s neck. “You do the same thing to me, Nicole Haught.”

Nicole flushed red. “I don’t mean to.”

“You idiot. It’s a _good_ thing.” Waverly rested her forehead against Nicole’s. “Now, uh, can I get back to what I was doing?”

“Oh, God. Yes.”

Waverly grinned. “Good.”


	6. Livin' Ain't Killed Me Yet

_ FEBRUARY 24 _

 

“I think I’m going to die.”

Waverly laughed, kissing Nicole on the cheek and running her hand along her jaw. “Your adrenaline power went all the way into silver. Reaper mode. A hell of a lot more energy than it usually takes, and you aren’t used to using it. You’re probably _exhausted_.”

Nicole groaned and rolled over, burying her face in the pillow on Waverly’s bed. “’Exhausted’ isn’t a synonym for ‘dying’. I’m dying.”

“Drama queen.” Waverly traced a finger down Nicole’s spine. “I can help you figure that out, if you let me. How to control it. Utilize it. You might even be able to make it stop kicking your ass.”

“Why do I feel like that’s a roundabout way of saying I’m going to get laid again?”

Waverly chuckled and pressed a kiss to Nicole’s shoulder. “No, that’s a roundabout way of saying that you _won’t_ get laid again unless you agree to learn.”

“That’s blackmail.”

“That’s going to make my life _a lot more fun_.”

Nicole squinted up at her. “You really do hate me, don’t you?”

“Nonsense.” Waverly skimmed her fingers over Nicole’s tattoo. “I already said I love you.”

“Bastard.”

“Probably untrue, as I’m a Reaper just like everyone else in my family.” With a laugh, Waverly pulled the pillow out from under Nicole’s head. “Come on, Haught. You have to go to work.”

“Oh, God.” Nicole yanked the pillow back and covered her head with it. In a muffled voice, she said, “My kids are gonna know I had sex last night.”

Waverly raised an eyebrow. “How the hell are they going to know that?”

“Because two of them _heard you_ yesterday and _announced it_.”

“Oh. Well, that’ll be fun.”

“ _Tons._ ”

Waverly gently pushed Nicole onto her back again and kissed her slowly, the jolt of energy running through Nicole’s body. “You’ll survive, Nicky. Reapers are sturdier than that.”

“Have you ever _been_ to a high school?” Nicole asked dryly.

“Yes. I was there just yesterday, seducing you.”

“ _Seduce?_ All you did was confuse the hell out of me.”

“Hm.” Waverly brushed Nicole’s tattoo again. “Got you here, didn’t I?”

Nicole flushed red. “I-I, well, y-yeah, but…”

“Oh, good, you’ve gone all cute and embarrassed again.” Waverly nipped at her jaw and rolled on top of her. “Perfect for waking you up properly.”

“Dear God, what are you-”

Waverly interrupted her by kissing her roughly and sending another tingling jolt across Nicole’s skin. “Shh,” she whispered. “You’ll be late for work.”

 

+++++

 

_ MARCH 5 _

 

Waverly shook her head and bumped her shoulder against Nicole’s arm as they watched Doc and Dolls dueling in the training ring. “They’re doing a good job.”

“You all do a good job.”

“Hey.” Waverly brushed her fingers against Nicole’s hand. “You’re _good at what you do_ , Nicole. You’ve got to stop doubting that.”

“Yeah. Sure.” Nicole rubbed the back of her neck as her tattoo flickered. “I have to go.”

As she disappeared in a sweep of her scythe, Waverly bit her lip, concern furrowing her brow.

“Nicky being a pain?” Wynonna asked, stopping next to her and watching as Dolls smacked into the floor.

“She just doesn’t trust herself. I’ve been working with her. Helping her with the scythe combat and the peripheral powers. But she just doesn’t have any _confidence_.” Waverly anxiously spun her shortened scythe in her hand. “I’m worried about her. I just wish there was more I could do for her.”

“You’re working with her, Wave. You’re _teaching_ her. That’ll build her confidence more than anything we could ever tell her. She’ll be okay.” Wynonna rested a hand on Waverly’s shoulder. “She’s the daughter of a Reaper who was tossed into this life with no idea what to do, didn’t know she had her abilities until she was older, and then didn’t meet _us_ , people who know what we’re _doing_ , until only three years ago. She’s a _rookie_. I can forgive a little lack of confidence. And she’s good at what she does. She’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.” Waverly tightened her grip on her scythe. “We’re never going to solve those homicides, are we? That woman. Nic’s student. We’ll never know.”

“I-I… suppose it could _not_ be Revenants,” Wynonna admitted. “Or maybe it is. I’d rather investigate like normal. We don’t _know_.”

“If we’re starting to see bodies,” Waverly muttered, “we’ll probably find out soon enough.”

 

+++++

 

_ MARCH 10 _

 

“How was school today?” Waverly asked, her fingers interlocked with Nicole’s as they walked down the street, heading back towards the apartments.

“Uneventful. I’m pretty sure the kids are still looking to see if I’ve gotten laid the night before, though.”

Waverly smirked and leaned up to press a kiss to Nicole’s cheek. “You usually _have_.”

“Okay, but I’m not telling my high school students that.”

“Coward.” Waverly squeezed Nicole’s hand. “Turn the adrenaline on.”

“I can’t just-”

“Nicole,” Waverly said patiently. “Slow deep breath. Will your heartbeat to relax and calm. Focus. And switch it on.”

There was a pause as Nicole followed Waverly’s instructions carefully. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again they were flickering red. They stayed that way for a few seconds before falling back to brown.

“Dammit,” Nicole muttered.

“Hey. No.” Waverly pulled their hands up and pressed her lips against the back of Nicole’s hand. “ _Any_ control is still _control_. You’re getting somewhere. You’re _trying_. That matters, Nic. You should be proud of that.”

“I am. It’s just a bit hard to feel like a brief flicker of control is useful.”

“You’re learning, rookie. And you’ll only learn more from here.”

“Not if she doesn’t live long enough to,” a voice said from behind them.

Nicole and Waverly both turned and saw a thin, balding man standing at the end of the street. They immediately realized that, lost in their conversation, they had wandered down one of the alleys that few ever walked into.

One that was a dead end.

“I can’t believe you Reapers are going to make this so easy for me,” the man said, his eyes lighting up gold.

“What the hell Is that?” Nicole asked.

“Revenant,” Waverly whispered, horror in her voice.

“What the hell is a…”

The man raised his hand, and a glassy gold revolver blinked into existence in his grip.

“Oh,” Nicole said. “Figures.”

A glittering shot was fired out of the revolver, and it went between Waverly and Nicole with such force and they were knocked away from each other, landing on the ground.

“What in the _fuck_ is _that_?”

Waverly didn’t answer, her scythe already in her hand. She struck the man in the face with a quick long-distance jab before pushing up onto her feet for a fight. Before she could move forward, the Revenant fired another shot.

It hit her scythe dead on with such force that the vibrations visibly slammed into Waverly’s body and forced her to let go of her scythe.

“Wave?” Nicole asked urgently as the other woman shivered with pain.

The Revenant fired two more shots, one at Waverly, one at Nicole.

Without her scythe, Waverly was defenseless. She stared at the bullet as if it was in slow-motion, blood pounding in her ears. But as she braced herself for the inevitable pain, it never came.

Because Nicole threw her scythe at the shot headed for Waverly.

Waverly reacted instinctively the moment the shot died, grabbing Nicole’s scythe and scrambling to her feet to attack the Revenant, but he was already gone. She grabbed her own scythe and made it vanish, tightly gripping Nicole’s scythe. The punching feeling from the scythe exchange had dulled to a soft, gentle, _warm_ shiver ever since they had gotten together.

She didn’t even notice it, because she was more interested in Nicole.

Who was lying motionless on the ground.

“Oh my God.” Waverly turned Nicole over and brushed her fingers over Nicole’s cheek. “Nicky. Baby. Hey.”

Golden arcs of electrical energy were crackling over Nicole’s body. She seemed unconscious, though pain was still clear on her face.

“Oh, God.” Waverly pressed a kiss to Nicole’s forehead, ignoring the painful surge that transferred from Nicole’s body to hers. “You’re going to be okay,” she whispered, digging her phone out of her pocket as Nicole shuddered horribly and the arcing golden sparks amplified in intensity. “You’ll be fine.”

Waverly pressed the speed dial on her phone and held it up to her ear, whispering soothing murmurs to Nicole as she gently stroked her hair.

“ _Hey, Waves, what’s-_ ”

“Wynonna,” Waverly said, her voice cracking.

“ _What’s wrong?_ ” Wynonna asked immediately.

Waverly swallowed as another shiver ran through Nicole’s body. In a whisper, she said, “I need help.”


	7. Down On My Knees

_ MARCH 10 _

 

Wynonna was at her sister’s side in a matter of moments.

What she found was Waverly kneeling on the ground, a scythe in her hand, trying desperately to do anything possible to help a shuddering Nicole.

“Shit,” Wynonna whispered, getting on Nicole’s other side and resting her fingers on Nicole’s throat to check her pulse. “That’s way too fast. We have to get her home. What the fuck happened?”

Waverly didn’t answer, staring blankly at Nicole and gripping the scythe so tightly that her knuckles were white.

“Hey,” Wynonna said gently, resting a hand on Waverly’s shoulder. “Wave. Are you hurt?”

“What?” Waverly asked, her voice rasping and her eyes still locked on Nicole.

“Are you hurt?”

“N-No.”

“Then come on, baby girl. Let’s get Nicky home, alright?”

Waverly nodded stiffly. “I-I can’t… touch her. It hurts.”

Wynonna’s brow furrowed. “Must be some weird energy disruption since you were here when it happened. It’s okay.” She picked Nicole up easily, not even being affected by the sparks arcing over Nicole’s body. “Come on. It’s alright.” Her shortened scythe cut through the air with a careful twist of her wrist, and she and Nicole disappeared.

After a long moment, still holding Nicole’s scythe tight in her hand, Waverly followed.

 

+++++

 

When she reappeared in the Sickle & Scythe, Wynonna immediately said, “Gus, please, table.”

Gus hurried over to the long table and cleared it quickly, and Wynonna set Nicole down on top of it. Doc and Dolls both appeared in the room at almost the exact moment that Waverly got there.

“What happened?” Dolls demanded.

“I don’t know. Waverly, honey, you have to tell us what’s going on.”

Waverly walked over and set the scythe down next to Nicole, who instantly reacted, her body twitching with pain. In a panic, Waverly picked the scythe back up, and Nicole settled back into her calmer unconscious state.

“It was a Revenant,” Waverly whispered. “One of his shots knocked my scythe out of my hand. He fired two more at me and Nic.” She swallowed, her voice cracking. “Nic threw her scythe at the shot aimed at me, instead of blocking the one going towards her. I think only part of the shot hit her because of how she turned to protect me. But it hit her. And it’s my fault.”

“It’s not,” Wynonna insisted. “It’s the Revenant’s.” She glanced at Dolls. “Could you go get The Blacksmith? Tell her what happened? She’ll know better than any of us how we can help Nicole.”

Dolls nodded and vanished.

Waverly gently set her hand on Nicole’s head, wincing at the shock of pain, and brushed her thumb over Nicole’s forehead. Nicole moaned softly and relaxed just a bit more, as if whatever Waverly was doing was relieving some of the pain.

“Why is that happening?” Wynonna wondered in a murmur. “Whenever you touch anything involving Nicole, she’s not as bad.”

“Our shadow energy is bonded,” Waverly whispered. “I can… I can _feel_ what’s happening to her. Everything feels different when I touch her scythe. When I touch _her_.”

Wynonna, Gus, and Doc exchanged glances. “Why?” Wynonna asked.

Waverly leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Nicole’s mouth, ignoring the jolt of pain through her jaw. When she leaned back, she said, “We’re in love.”

There was a long moment of silence before Wynonna said, “How long has this been going on?”

With a faint smile, Waverly replied, “I kissed her on February 22nd. I think I loved her even before then. How long, I couldn’t tell you.”

Wynonna opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Dolls shadowwalked into the room, holding The Blacksmith’s arm while her hands held the bowl of liquid shadow.

“There’s not much I can do,” she said in a clipped voice, moving over to where Nicole was lying and setting the bowl down next to her. She picked up Nicole’s hand and set it into the liquid. “This will stabilize her energy some. But there’s not actually a lot I can do for her. She pretty much just has to suffer through it. It should fade over the next few days.” The Blacksmith glanced at Waverly, who was still stroking Nicole’s forehead gently. “That should help, too,” she murmured. “You’re disrupting what the Revenant shot did to her energy. And taking some of her pain for yourself.”

“She took the _shot_ for me,” Waverly muttered. “I can take some of this.”

“Just don’t overdo it on yourself. She can survive it.”

“There’s nothing else that we can do for her?” Wynonna asked.

The Blacksmith shook her head. “I’m sorry, but there isn’t. Most don’t even have the advantage Nicole has with Waverly. I’ll leave the ink with her. Don’t take her hand out for at least twenty-four hours, even if she wakes up. Not that I see that happening within the next two days at least.” She rested a hand on top of Waverly’s. “She will be alright, little Earp. She just needs to sleep.”

“Thank you.” Waverly swallowed, her hands trembling. “If there’s anything else…”

“I’ll tell you. I promise.”

“I’ll take you back to your shop, Blacksmith,” Dolls said softly.

Once they disappeared, Gus moved over and gently loosened Nicole’s tie. “The poor kid’s been through enough thanks to Revenants,” she muttered. “She didn’t deserve this.”

“Why didn’t she recognize him?”

Gus blinked at Waverly. “What?”

“Nicole. She didn’t seem to know what a Revenant even _was_.” Waverly looked up at Wynonna, her eyes narrowed. “You said you explained. You said you _told_ her.”

“I told her what she needed to know,” Wynonna said. “A thing that hunts Reapers killed her mother. That’s the _truth_.”

“And what, you conveniently left out what they _are_? The whole ‘fallen Reaper’ thing? That their weapons can do more than just kill us? She saw the gold eyes; how did you explain away that?”

Wynonna paused before quietly saying, “Her Sight gives these hunters a gold aura, which she misinterpreted as gold eyes.”

“For hell’s sake, Wynonna,” Doc said, irritation clear in his voice. “Why wouldn’t you just tell her the truth?”

As Dolls appeared back in the room, Wynonna snarled, “Because I didn’t want to have to _explain_ what those _things_ are, okay? She had the information she needed. She knew she had to avoid them. It’s not my fault if she didn’t-.”

“ _Fuck_ , Wynonna, she wasn’t _ready for them_.” Waverly surged up, her hand slipping from Nicole’s head. Her anger immediately dulled as Nicole shivered in pain, and she gently went back to stroking Nicole’s forehead before glaring at her sister. “Not that I was, either. We just weren’t _ready_ for them. But that doesn’t mean that she shouldn’t be able to recognize one _on sight_. She knew it was bad. I could _feel_ that. But the time it took for her to process just what that damn thing was wasn’t necessary. You should’ve told her _everything_. And if you couldn’t, you should’ve told me so that _I_ could’ve told her.”

“You’re right, okay? I know you’re right. But I couldn’t…” Wynonna closed her eyes briefly. “I can’t think about those things after what they did to Daddy and Willa.”

“Stop doing that,” Waverly growled.

“Stop what?”

“Pretending that Revenants killed them.”

Wynonna blinked. Gus rested a hand on Waverly shoulder and whispered, “Waverly, that’s enough.”

“No. It’s not. I’m tired of my sister acting like half our family didn’t allow themselves to turn into monsters and try to kill us.”

“When they decided to stop being Reapers and start being Revenants,” Wynonna said slowly, “when they made the choice to fight death instead of accepting it, they ceased to be the people we knew. They _died_. Revenants _did_ kill them.”

“Don’t Obi-Wan me, Wynonna. I was there. I saw them try to kill us, and I saw you kill them to stop it. You didn’t do anything wrong. And I get that it _hurts_ , but maybe if you stop _hiding_ from it, you’d actually be able to _do something about them_.”

“You think I don’t want to?” Wynonna asked in a low voice.

“I think you’re too afraid to even _mention_ them when it’s _important_. I don’t think you don’t want to. You’re just scared to.” Waverly pressed a soft kiss to Nicole’s cheek and sat down next to the table.

Wynonna started to say something, but Gus stepped between her and Waverly and held up a hand. “No,” Gus murmured. “Not today, Wynonna. Let her be. It’s okay.” She glanced back at Waverly, who was watching Nicole with a gentle yet miserable look on her face. “She just needs some time, okay?”

“I think I need some, too.” Wynonna turned to Doc and Dolls. “Can you guys go through the city and just… keep an eye on it? There’s nothing we can do for the people Nicole is supposed to Reap. We can’t See them. Anyone who dies while she’s out of commission is just…” She rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. “Just be careful, okay? _Do not_ engage any Revenants, understand? I don’t want anybody else down.”

“We’ll take care of it, Wynonna,” Doc said. “You just take care of things here.”

Both men formed their scythes and disappeared.

Wynonna walked over to the bar and sat down on one of the stools, resting her head in her hands. Gus sat next to her and rubbed her back.

“You do a good job, Wynonna. Curtis would be proud.”

“How could he be?” Wynonna asked. “I don’t know what to do.”

“You’re _trying_. That’s all he would’ve ever asked for.”

Wynonna watched Waverly for a moment. “I didn’t even know. About her and Nicole. Why wouldn’t she have told me?”

Gus chuckled. “They’re kids, Wynonna. Even if Nicky is thirty, and Waverly nearly is. They’re still dumb kids. And they have something I don’t think any of us will ever be able to fully understand.” She gave Waverly and Nicole a soft, affectionate look. “They’ll be okay. We all will. And you’ll stop whatever’s happening. I have faith in that.”

Wynonna reached behind the bar and grabbed a glass and a bottle of whiskey. “I wish I could say the same.”


	8. Honesty (Write Me A List)

_ MARCH 11 _

 

When Nicole regained consciousness, the first thing she became aware of was the soft tingling feeling in her gut that she knew meant Waverly was in contact with her scythe.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Waverly in a chair next to the couch Nicole was lying on, hunched in an uncomfortable position and dozing, one hand resting on Nicole’s shoulder and the other holding her scythe.

Nicole noticed that her hand was resting in the bowl of shadow ink on the floor, and she carefully removed it, ignoring the cold shudder.

She slid carefully out from under Waverly’s hand and felt a sharp snap of pain quiver through her body. A fluttering of sparks trailed from her head to her feet. “Oh, God,” she groaned.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Waverly demanded, opening her eyes immediately.

“I thought you were asleep,” Nicole said through gritted teeth. A more violent series of sparks arced over her skin, and she groaned again. “Oh, holy shit.”

“You can’t get up yet, you dork.” Waverly shoved Nicole back flat on the couch. “You need to _rest_.”

“I need to do my _job_ ,” Nicole said. “You know? Reap? I-” She broke off as another wave of electrical pain quaked through her body.

“You’ve already been not doing your job for about eighteen hours. A few more aren’t going to make it any worse.” Waverly got up from the chair and settled on top of Nicole, her head resting directly above Nicole’s heartbeat and Nicole’s scythe carefully positioned next to her so that she was still touching it but it was out of the way. “You need rest.”

Nicole was surprised when the severe pain in her muscles eased just a bit when Waverly lay on top of her. She skimmed her fingers down Waverly’s spine. “I know. I’m sorry.” She closed her eyes as another shiver vibrated through her. “God, I’m starving.”

“I’ll get you something in a bit. And a bottle of water. You need it.”

“This is good for right now,” Nicole murmured.

Waverly shifted her head to press a kiss to Nicole’s jaw before settling back into her spot. “I’m mad at you.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Because you’re a goddamn idiot. You shouldn’t have blocked the shot aimed for me. You should’ve deflected the shot aimed at _you_. You could’ve been killed, Nicole.”

Nicole was silent for a long moment, absentmindedly stroking Waverly’s back. “I’d do it again. Any time. Any place. Even if it killed me. Even if I had to live with this pain forever.”

Waverly lifted her head, anger in her eyes. “Do you really value your life _that little_? For hell’s sake, Nic, you-”

She was silenced when Nicole gently laid her hand over Waverly’s lips. “I value my life just fine. But I value your life more than anything else in the world.”

Waverly sighed against Nicole’s hand and pushed down to rest her forehead against Nicole’s neck. “You know what pisses me off the most about that?”

“What?”

“I _can’t_ be mad, because I feel the same way about you.”

When Nicole didn’t respond, Waverly squinted back up at her, and saw that she was blushing. She laughed softly.

“You gotta be kidding me, Nicky. We’ve made out, we’ve had sex, we’ve had our hands all over each other’s scythes, we’ve said we love each other. I’m currently on top of you. And me saying that I value you is what flusters you?”

“You just fluster me in general. As like an overall fact of life.”

Waverly stroked her thumb across Nicole’s cheek. “I love you. Even though you’re a _nerd_.”

“I love you too. Even though you’re demanding.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Waverly settled on top of Nicole, linking their fingers together and gently pushing their hands into the bowl of ink. As they both shivered, Waverly whispered, “Get some more sleep, Nicole. You need it. Please.”

Nicole took in a slow breath, the dull energy sensation flooding through her. “Are you going to stay?”

“If you want.”

“I want.” Nicole closed her eyes, drowning in the feeling of Waverly’s weight on top of her and allowing herself to slowly drift back to sleep.

 

+++++

 

_ MARCH 12 _

 

“I never knew that changing clothes would feel this nice,” Nicole said as she pulled on a dark green shirt.

Waverly sat down on her lap, set her scythe down on the couch next to them, and began buttoning up Nicole’s shirt. “At least you can move more today.”

“Yeah, though it still…” Nicole trailed off, shivering. “That.”

“I’m sorry.” Waverly brushed a loose strand of hair off of Nicole’s forehead and kissed her softly. “It gets worse for you when I let go of your scythe.”

“You can’t hold it forever.” Nicole leaned back against the couch cushions. “It feels better when you’re making contact with me, too.”

“... Yeah.”

Nicole’s eyes narrowed. “Waverly? What aren’t you telling me?”

Waverly absentmindedly flexed the hand she had been resting on Nicole. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Babe. Please. Talk to me.”

Her eyes briefly flickering blue, her fingers stroking Nicole’s cheek, Waverly murmured, “It feels better because some of it drains into me.”

Nicole froze. “You mean… Do you mean you’re _taking_ some of this agony?”

“Yes.”

After a long pause, Nicole said, “Get off of me.”

“Nic-”

“Waverly, get off of- _shit_.” Nicole doubled over in pain the moment she pushed Waverly off of her and onto the couch.

“This is exactly why you need it, you dumbass,” Waverly snarled, brushing her fingers against the back of Nicole’s neck.

“Oh, God, I want it to stop, but I don’t want to hurt you, too.”

“I know, baby.” Waverly carefully shifted closer, still stroking Nicole’s neck, and pressed a kiss to the side of Nicole’s head. “But you took that shot for me. I can take a little bit of pain for you.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Nicole rasped.

“I know. I don’t care.”

“You haven’t been in _constant_ contact. Why was it _worse_?”

“Overexertion, and your scythe wasn’t in my hand.” Waverly kissed her cheek. “Bad combination of us both being stupid. Plus, sometimes it’s just worse, I think. Every so often when you were out cold there would be this burst of sparks and you’d moan in pain and it’d terrify me.”

Nicole leaned against Waverly and gave a tired sigh. “I’ll be alright, Waves.”

“You’d better. And you’re staying here at my place until you are.”

“Is that an invitation?” Nicole asked with a laugh.

Waverly wasn’t smiling. She hugged Nicole to her tightly and murmured, “I’m not ready to be apart from you just yet.”

Nicole rubbed her fingers up and down Waverly’s back. “I’d be more than glad to join you.”

There was a sharp knock on the apartment door and it opened, Wynonna stepping inside. Nicole flushed slightly and shifted just a bit away from Waverly.

“It’s okay, Nic,” Waverly whispered. “She knows.”

“Oh.” Nicole frowned, noticing the anger and frustration in Wynonna’s eyes as she looked at her younger sister. “Is everything alright?”

“Your _girlfriend_ thinks she knows everything,” Wynonna growled. “Thinks she understands. Thinks she knows _best_.”

“Are you speaking to me now? Have you gotten over your petty angry bullshit?”

Nicole blinked between Wynonna and Waverly. “Uhm… Wynonna, you aren’t… you’re not _upset_ … about me… and Waverly… are you?”

Wynonna’s gaze softened as she shifted it to Nicole. “No, Nicky. I’m not mad about you and Waverly. I’m sure you’re good for each other.”

“ _I’m_ pissed off because my _sister_ didn’t tell you what a Revenant is, just because she didn’t want to talk about them.”

“Wave, I swear, can you just-”

“Guys,” Nicole interrupted. “My body is still sparking. I have a migraine. Breathing actually hurts. Could you please just talk to me without arguing? I beg you.”

Waverly kissed her softly, the anger in her eyes dying immediately. “Yeah. Yeah, Nic, I can.”

Wynonna said nothing, but sat down in the chair opposite the couch.

“Can you lie down for me, baby? Please? Get more of the ink in you.”

Nicole obediently shifted, lying down so her head was resting in Waverly’s lap and her hand was dipping into the bowl of ink on the floor.

As she stroked her thumb across Nicole’s forehead, Waverly said, “If a Reaper decides to stop gathering souls entirely. If they give up their mission. If they decide to actively fight against death, to rebel against the mission, to refuse to accept their own mortality. If they stop seeing their charges as people instead of walking corpses. They become Revenants.

“A Revenant is a Reaper who can no longer Reap. Their energy is corrupted. They have no scythe. They cannot shadowwalk. They can still see the auras, and they have their tattoos and adrenaline power, but instead of glowing silver like a proper Reaper they glow gold.

“We aren’t sure when exactly it happened. But at some point in history, Revenants began getting weapons of their own. Those glass, golden revolvers. Revolvers whose shots can shatter or otherwise severely damage the energy of a Reaper.”

“Hence the severe pain?”

Waverly smiled softly and pressed a kiss to Nicole’s lips. “Hence the severe pain.”

“Good to know.” Nicole paused, staring up at the ceiling. “That’s what killed my mother. A Revenant. I knew I recognized the eyes, but I didn’t put it together in time.”

“Yes,” Wynonna murmured. “It is.”

Nicole was silent for another long moment. “Was she in this much pain when she died?”

Waverly and Wynonna exchanged an uncomfortable glance. “I don’t know,” Waverly admitted. “I don’t know, Nic. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

As they sat, the gentle flow of the shadow ink into Nicole’s body combined with Waverly’s soft, continual touch to relax her into a state of near-unconsciousness. On the edge of sleep, Nicole murmured, “It’s a shame.”

“What is, Nicky?” Waverly whispered.

“She would’ve liked you.”

Trembling, Waverly just continued to brush her thumb against Nicole’s head until she drifted off to sleep. Wynonna stood and moved over to the couch, sitting next to Waverly on the other side from where Nicole was. She put an arm around Waverly and hugged her tightly.

“It’s alright, baby girl,” Wynonna said in Waverly’s ear. “You can shut down now. It’s okay.”

“I’m fine,” Waverly lied.

Wynonna gave a small smile and kissed the side of Waverly’s head. “It’s okay,” she repeated.

Waverly tried to insist that she was fine.

Instead she found herself falling asleep against her sister.


	9. Revival

_ MARCH 13 _

 

“I’ve never taken a day off work in my life,” Nicole said softly as she lay on the couch, her head resting in Waverly’s lap.

“You’re still sparking and you’re still in pain, baby.” Waverly brushed her fingers through Nicole’s hair.

“If you’ve never taken a day,” Wynonna said, leaning back in her chair as she ate a bowl of Apple Jacks, “you can take one for _this_ , Nicky.”

Waverly glanced at Doc and Dolls, sitting in the other chairs. “Did you ever find the Revenants? You never said.”

“There weren’t any in the city. And there didn’t seem to be any other Sightless deaths.” Doc frowned and fidgeted with his mustache. “To be frank, I’m not positive why they would’ve attacked you and Nicole at all.”

“To take us off guard?” Wynonna asked through a mouthful of cereal.

“For what? They had the whole weekend where Nicole was completely out of commission and Waverly was distracted with keeping her from an agony-induced coma. Shouldn’t they have taken it?” Dolls shook his head slowly. “A part of me wonders if they weren’t supposed to be attacked. It was just an opportunity too good to pass up.”

“They’re behind this,” Waverly said softly. “The Sightless deaths. I know they are. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

“We need to find out what the point is,” Wynonna growled. “Besides the fact that they’re assholes who go against everything we are.”

“We’ll find out. We will. That’s what we do.” Doc stood, his scythe appearing in his hand. The white flame tattoo on his forearm flashed black, and he said, “I have to go. If I see anything unusual I’ll let you know.”

“Be safe,” Wynonna said quietly.

“Always am. Sort of.” Doc disappeared.

“I should go, too.”

Waverly looked down at Nicole quickly. “What? No. You can’t.”

“Wave, I _have_ to do my job. I can’t delay any longer. We both know that.” Nicole dragged herself to her feet and picked her scythe up from the table. “I’ll figure it out. I won’t push it, honey, I promise.”

Wynonna snickered softly. “Christ, you guys sound like you’re married.”

Nicole flushed bright red and almost dropped her scythe. “I-I-I… uhm…”

“Oh leave her alone.” Waverly stood and fixed Nicole’s tie. “Just… be careful. Don’t overuse your powers. Your shadowwalk might not work properly with the gold arcing over you still.”

“I’ll be alright. I could use a real walk.” Nicole hesitated, then kissed Waverly slowly. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“You’d better be, or I’ll kick your ass.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Nicole made her scythe disappear and walked out of the apartment.

“Y’all are gross,” Wynonna said with a grin.

“Shut up.”

Trying not to smile, Dolls got to his feet. “I need to get a few Reapings in before my day job starts. I’ll talk to you both later.”

Once he was gone, Waverly sat down on the couch again. “We need to head to the precinct soon. And we need to figure out how to investigate a murder that we’re pretty sure was caused by people that can’t exactly be arrested.”

“Easy. We spend the time proving it, and we try to find the bastards.” Wynonna drank the milk from her bowl. “Waverly, I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“For acting like I’m the only one who was hurt. When Daddy and Willa became Revenants.”

Waverly rubbed the back of her neck and stared down at the ground. “I get it, Wy. I really do. I know what that day did to you. But Wynonna… if anybody is going to understand what you went through, it’s me. If anybody’s going to understand why you struggle whenever Revenants come up, it’s me. I _understand_.”

“I guess a part of me is still ashamed of it,” Wynonna mumbled.

“Oh, Wy.” Waverly smiled softly at her. “They were going to kill us. You don’t need to be ashamed of saving our lives. It was _brave_ and _good_. You made the right decision. I promise.”

Wynonna snorted. “Did you say the same thing to Nic about saving your life?”

“… No,” Waverly admitted.

“Yeah, because it’s _stupid_ , and we both know it.”

After a pause, Waverly gave a sharp laugh.

Wynonna’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“Nothing, I just… Apparently I’m dating someone who’s as much of a stubborn idiot as my own sister.”

“Gross,” Wynonna said flatly.

“Oh, shut up.” Waverly sprawled on her couch. “Go shower and get ready for work. We have things to do.”

“Yes, ma’am.” As she headed for the door, Wynonna said, “Nicole will be okay, Wave. She’ll be okay.”

“I hope so,” Waverly whispered.

 

+++++

 

As they curled up in bed, faint crackles of energy only passing over Nicole’s skin on rare occasions, Waverly ran her fingers up and down Nicole’s tattoo.

“So. I’m having you move in until your energy stabilizes.”

“Yes,” Nicole murmured. “I figure that’s why I’m in your bed even though you aren’t using me for sex.”

Waverly poked her hard in the ribs. “Don’t make me add to your pain, you ass. I thought you were the shy nerd?”

“M’tired.” Nicole pulled Waverly on top of her and idly skimmed her fingers up and down Waverly’s back. “I get mouthy when I’m tired.”

“Light your tat up. It can be red. But do it.”

Nicole groaned softly. “Wave.”

“Nic.”

With a soft sigh, Nicole closed her eyes and concentrated for a long moment. When she opened her eyes again, they were glowing red along with her tattoo. It almost immediately turned off, and she sighed again. “I can’t maintain it yet, Wave. Please don’t make me right now.”

“You did what you were told. That’s good enough.” Waverly smirked, a patronizing tone in her voice as she patted Nicole’s cheek. “You’re my good little spooky Reaper.”

“Oh, dear God,” Nicole groaned.

“You like it,” Waverly teased.

“I don’t even know what to say.”

“Good. That’s always my goal.” They laid there for several more minutes, until Waverly asked, “Nic? Are you still awake?”

“I’m afraid to sleep around you.”

Waverly laughed and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “You’ve got a _mouth_ on you tonight. I _like_ it.”

“Sorry.” Nicole kissed the top of Waverly’s head. “What’s wrong?”

Waverly stared at her. “Stay.”

“Aren’t I already-”

“Permanently.”

Nicole’s gaze shifted to Waverly quickly. “What?”

“Don’t just move in with me until you’re better. Move in with me for good.”

The softness in Waverly’s eyes made Nicole’s heart melt. “Yes. Yes, of course.”

Waverly grinned and kissed her. “Good. Good.”

“That’s what you’re gonna say? Nothing more clever?”

“Wow.” Waverly tucked her head under Nicole’s chin and closed her eyes. “You’re lucky you’re still sparking, or you’d suffer for all this snark.”

“… Gettin’ it all in while I can.”

Waverly laughed softly. “I love you.”

When she got no response, she looked up at Nicole and realized that she had already dozed off. Smiling softly, Waverly kissed Nicole’s jaw and settled in to sleep as well.

 

+++++

 

“You’re patrolling late tonight,” Doc said, stepping next to Dolls in the shadows of an alley.

“You seem to be too, Holliday.”

“Look at you being all logical. Your yellow scales tattoo actually _does_ make sense. Who knew?”

Dolls laughed and leaned against the wall next to him. “As if you aren’t out here because you’re as loyal as your flame suggests.”

“Fair.”

They just stood there for a while, watching the crowds walk past them.

“We’re in trouble, aren’t we?” Dolls asked.

“In general, with Wynonna, or something else specific?”

Dolls smiled slightly. “I meant because a Revenant managed to catch _Waverly_ off-guard so easily that she and Nic both almost got killed. Waverly’s been trained since birth. You and I both know damn well that Ward Earp cared more about having Reapers than having children. But that Revenant wrecked Waverly before she even had time to react. And if that happens? To her? We’re in trouble.”

Doc was silent for a long moment. “Yeah. I think we’re in trouble. We can fight Revenants. We have the skills. But we don’t have the information that we need. We don’t know what they’re doing. We don’t know where they are. And we have no idea what their plan is. We need to know, Dolls. I’m just not that sure how to find out.”

“Well,” Dolls said, his scythe forming in his hand, “hopefully we’ll find out before they actually manage to kill one of us.”

Doc chuckled softly and adjusted his hat. “Optimistic. I like it.” He turned to head back into the shadows. “Let’s hope that it doesn’t come down to that. For all of our sakes.”


	10. Saturday Night

_ MARCH 15 _

 

The day Nicole stopped sparking was the day she went back to work.

She regretted it less than halfway through first period, a splitting migraine thudding through her head.

“Ms. Haught?” one of her second period students asked softly when her class filed in and sat down. “Are you okay?”

“I think so. Just a headache.” Nicole rubbed at her temples and sighed. “How were the past two days?”

“Not as much fun.” Another student grinned. “You’re a lot better than a substitute, Ms. Haught.”

“M’flattered. I love you guys too.” Nicole hesitated, sighing again before pushing herself to her feet. “Alright. I know I was supposed to get your papers back to you today, but I couldn’t do it, guys. I’m sorry. I-I, uhm.” She pinched the bridge of her nose briefly. “It was a long four days of being sick, and I’m apparently still sick, so. I’m gonna do my best, and we’re gonna talk about the reading. Okay?”

“Don’t push yourself, Ms. Haught. We can just sit here and do nothing all day.”

Nicole chuckled softly. “Thank you, Jamie, but maybe we should try to catch up, huh?” She picked up her book and started flipping through it, ignoring the faint red hue that flickered into her vision.

 

+++++

 

As she sat behind her desk during her lunch period, Nicole groaned softly and rubbed at her eyes. She felt someone appear behind her, and the gentle sensation of Waverly prickle against her ear. “How are you?” Waverly whispered.

“Been better.” Nicole leaned back in her chair, her shoulders lightly bumping against Waverly. “My vision keeps flickering red.”

“Your whole vision?”

“Yeah. I take it that’s not normal.”

“Well, you’ve always been special.” Waverly laughed softly and leaned down, pressing a kiss to Nicole’s cheek. “Did you come back too soon?”

“I don’t know. I have a headache, but I think I’m okay.”

“Mm. Sounds like it.”

Nicole shook her head slowly. “Don’t.”

“I’m just saying.” Waverly gently stroked her fingers down the back of Nicole’s neck. “I can get rid of your headache, you know.”

Nicole flushed red. “We’re at my _job_ , Waves.”

“You think so little of me. I didn’t mean _that_ you _dork_.” Waverly skimmed her fingers down to Nicole’s shoulders and tightened her grip, massaging them gently. “You just need to relax.”

“I need like a gallon of Advil.”

“That will kill you.” Waverly rested her chin on top of Nicole’s head. “I love you. You’re resting tonight. No arguments.”

Nicole laughed softly and closed her eyes. “I love you too. Do you mean I can’t get laid?”

“Maybe. If you play your cards right.”

“I don’t have any cards.”

“Then I guess you won’t get laid.” Waverly leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss just above the collar of Nicole’s shirt. “Is your vision still red right now?”

“Yes.”

“Look at me.”

Nicole tilted her head back, shivering slightly as Waverly brushed her fingers up Nicole’s neck to straighten it further.

“Your eyes aren’t red. They aren’t glowing. So don’t worry about that. I guess your Sight is still a bit screwy. It’ll probably fade, and if it doesn’t, we’ll ask the Blacksmith about it, okay?” Waverly bent down and kissed Nicole slowly. “I should go. Wyn and I think we can prove whether Revs killed that boy you couldn’t Reap. We need to take care of that. But _relax_ , okay?”

“How can I relax when you’ve kissed me like that?” Nicole asked in a murmur.

Waverly grinned. “Look at you being all smooth.”

“I have my moments.”

“I can’t wait to see more.” Waverly pressed a kiss to her lips again and whispered, “I’ll see you later.”

She disappeared, leaving Nicole alone in the classroom.

 

+++++

 

“How are you feeling?” Waverly asked softly, wrapping her arms around Nicole as the other woman sat at the kitchen table grading papers.

“My vision’s still a bit tinted, but it’s starting to get better. I made pasta.”

Waverly groaned softly and kissed her cheek. “You’re my favorite person.”

“Mm. You’re just tired of eating takeout.” Nicole scribbled something on the paper in front of her. “I used the rest of your black olives, though, so I need to get you some more. Sorry.”

“Nicky,” Waverly whispered in her ear, “you live here. They’re your groceries too.”

Nicole paused, staring straight ahead. “How bad is it that I actually forgot?”

Waverly snickered and rested her forehead against the back of Nicole’s head. “You’re lucky you ended up back here instead of your old place.”

“Y-Yeah, well…”

“You’re blushing, aren’t you?”

Nicole cleared her throat, her face flushed red. “… No.”

“Liar.” Waverly grinned and gently tightened Nicole’s tie. “How about I go get the pasta on plates. And then after we eat, if you’re feeling better, we can have… _dessert_?”

“You’re going to be the death of me, aren’t you?”

Waverly kissed her cheek again quickly. “Almost definitely.”

“You know I’m still a bit of a mess, right?”

“I’m quite content with just making out with you.” Waverly smoothed Nicole’s tie gently. “You’re quite the kisser, Nicole Haught.”

Nicole cleared her throat awkwardly. “Uh… I-I’m… glad?”

Waverly turned her head so that her lips brushed against Nicole’s ear. “You should be. Because you’re Nicole Haught, Total Package.”

With a sharp laugh, she headed into the kitchen, leaving her girlfriend blushing at the table.

 

+++++

 

_ MARCH 18 _

 

“Yield. Submit. Surrender.”

Wynonna, leaning against the outside of the ring, started laughing. “Waverly, I don’t think you’re supposed to wreck your girlfriend like this when you aren’t in the bedroom.”

“Gross, Wy.” Waverly held out a hand to help Nicole to her feet. “You’re getting better, Nicky.”

“I-I am?”

“Yeah.” Waverly patted Nicole’s cheek. “Better at being on the floor.”

Nicole rested a hand over her heart. “I feel like I’ve been shot. And I know what that feels like now.”

“Too soon.” Waverly yanked Nicole down by her tie and kissed her roughly.

Wynonna groaned loudly and put her hand over her eyes, turning away. “Holy hell. You idiots live together now; I can’t even tell you to get a room. Must I watch this?”

Waverly continued to kiss Nicole absently as she said, “You can leave.”

“Leave her be,” Nicole murmured, pulling back a bit so that Waverly couldn’t kiss her again. “I’ll go grab lunch, alright? You can kick Wynonna’s ass.”

“Mm. I love when you’re punchy. You should do it more often.”

“I wouldn’t want to be rude.” Nicole grinned and nipped at Waverly’s neck quickly before heading out of the training room.

Wynonna watched Waverly’s face as her sister gazed after Nicole. “Hey, baby girl?”

“Hm? What?”

“You’re in love.”

The grin on Waverly’s face was broader than Wynonna had seen from her in years. “Yeah. Yeah, I really am.” She sat down cross-legged on the floor, her scythe resting on her knees. “God, Wynonna, I am.”

Wynonna climbed into the ring and sat down across from her, resting her own scythe on the floor. “You’re the happiest I’ve ever seen you. And I am so, _so_ relieved that you are. So glad that you’ve found that.” She swallowed, turning her gaze down towards the floor. “And I… I’m sorry. About not telling Nicole the truth about the Revenants.”

Waverly gave a soft laugh and fidgeted with her scythe. “Oh, Wy. I’ve already forgiven you for that.”

“How could you have?”

“You’re my sister, you idiot.” Flashing a gentle smile, Waverly got to her feet. “Now stand up so I can kick your ass.”

Wynonna laughed and picked up her scythe. “In your dreams, brat. _In. Your. Dreams._ ”

 

+++++

 

Nicole couldn’t shadowwalk yet. From what she understood from Waverly about the moments right after she had been shot, it was possible for one of the other Reapers to pull her through, but whenever she tried, she experienced a sharp, vibrating pain.

It was, likely, not a good thing, but for the time being she couldn’t do anything about it.

She had just started to round the corner, lost in thought, when she heard the shot.

Revenant shots made a sort of crackling sound, like the buzz of electricity in a B horror movie. It wasn’t loud, but the sound of it still pounded through her head like thunder. Nicole jumped backwards, almost slamming into a wall as she slipped into the shadows of the building she was standing next to. The spot above her hip where she had been shot ached as she looked around, knowing full well that fear was glinting in her eyes.

That was when she saw him. A disheveled man in a vest, gun aimed at a normal human.

A normal human, dead on the ground.

Nicole blinked rapidly, confused, as she realized that the body was that of a young adult, within her Reaping category. One of _hers_. And she hadn’t been brought to them.

That was how it was happening. How they were missing it all. The Revenants…

The Revenant.

Nicole scrambled to pull out her phone and hit the speed dial.

“ _Nicky?_ ”

“Wave,” Nicole whispered. “There’s a Revenant. He just killed someone.”

“ _Where?_ ”

“Two blocks down.”

In moments, Waverly and Wynonna were in the shadows next to her.

The sharp pain was apparently visible on her face, as Waverly brushed her fingers over the back of her neck. “Are you okay?” she whispered.

“I’m fine,” Nicole murmured. “But that Revenant over there just killed someone in my age range, and I didn’t even See them.”

“Shit,” Wynonna hissed. “I _knew_ it was them. I’m going to stab that douchebag in the _face_.”

“Wynonna, wait.”

“What? Why?”

Waverly squinted at the Revenant as he made his gun vanish. “Why don’t we try to follow him? See where he goes?”

“What if he does that vanishing act of theirs?”

“Then we’ll stop following.”

Nicole shrugged. “I’m in.”

“Nicky, you’re not-”

“Waverly,” Nicole interrupted patiently. “I’m fine. Alright?”

After a pause, Waverly nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”

 

+++++

 

The Revenant seemed to decide to wander through the city, which ended up a benefit for the Reapers following him. They tracked him to the waterfront, where he entered an old warehouse for Trailer Park Freight.

“Roof,” Wynonna muttered. She slipped deeper into the shadows, heading up to the flat top of the building.

Waverly rested a hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “Good?”

“Good.”

Waverly pulled both of them through the shadows until they joined Wynonna on the roof, where they knelt down by a window and watched as the Revenant walked inside.

And joined more Revenants than any of them had ever seen before.

The cluster of Revenants was crowded around inside the warehouse, sitting at long wooden tables, drinking, and playing poker. As soon as the Revenant that had been followed stepped in, everything went still.

A lone Revenant at an empty table at the front of the room, an imposing man with a shaved head and a black and blond beard, stood.

“Carl,” he said in greeting. “Did you do your job?”

“Yes, Bobo, sir. I killed exactly the kind of person you wanted.”

The tall man’s friendly voice gained just a slight dangerous edge. “And did you run into any Reapers?”

Carl shifted uncomfortably. “N-No, sir. I didn’t see any at all.”

“Good. Because, Carl, you know that you can’t shoot any of them, right? You remember what happened to Red when he shot a Reaper before it was time to try? Shot at an _Earp_?”

“Holy shit,” Wynonna whispered, gesturing at the corner of the room.

None of the Revenants had been reacting to it, so Waverly and Nicole hadn’t noticed. The Revenant who had shot at them, hung upside-down by chains, pained pleas muffled by a gag in his mouth.

“I don’t want to know what they’re doing to him, do I?” Waverly murmured.

“Shh,” Wynonna hissed as Bobo began speaking again.

“My friends, we’ve made so much progress. You know what the witch told us. We need to free more souls. Release them into the Earth. And then kill those Reapers. All before the Solstice, so that we can _truly_ defeat death itself. We can’t afford to make _mistakes_.” He shot a look at his hanging associate. “ _Mistakes_ will throw our plan off course. So thank you, Carl, for doing your damn job like the Revenant you are.”

“O-Of course, boss,” Carl stammered.

“I’ve heard enough.” Wynonna shifted back from the window. “We can’t do anything to break this up. There are too many. We’d die immediately, even if the boys were here.” She sighed. “Okay. I’m going to go fill Doc and Dolls in. You guys go home and have lunch. Take a breather. This has got to be a bit rough for you.”

“We can help, Wynonna,” Waverly insisted.

Wynonna brushed her hand over Waverly’s hair. “We all need to sit down and talk for a good long while about this. It’s not going to happen right away. Go get some food and slow down, alright?”

For a moment, Waverly just stared at her, then nodded. “Okay. Be careful.”

“Always.”

With a snort, Waverly put her hand on Nicole’s arm and shadowwalked them back to the apartment.

 

+++++

 

“How are you feeling?” Waverly asked the moment they got back to the apartment.

“I’m fine. I’m pretty sure the pain in my side was more psychological than anything else.” Nicole briefly stroked her hand down Waverly’s spine. “Do you want to go get some lunch? We can talk about… whatever the _fuck_ we just witnessed.”

“You know what, Nicole? I don’t really want to do _anything_ even _remotely_ involving the Revenants right now. I’m tired of it. I’ve spent the past week scared out of my mind because of them, and I’m not thinking about them again until we all get together as a group to talk about what to do from here.”

“Then what do you want to-”

Nicole broke off as Waverly shoved her against the door and kissed her roughly.

“This is probably a bad idea,” Waverly mumbled. “You’re not 100% yet.”

“I’m not complaining.”

“Thank God.” They kissed again, for a long moment, until Waverly managed to break it to say, “I wish I wouldn’t feel bad if I made you do the silver thing.”

She felt Nicole’s smirk. “You mean this?”

Waverly blinked and pulled back. Nicole’s tattoo and irises were lit silver.

“Well then, Professor. Look at you. Taking tutoring sessions?”

“No. Just motivated. And I’m a teacher, not a professor, they aren’t the same-”

She broke off in a choke as Waverly bit at her throat.

“You’re cute when you’re nerdy,” Waverly murmured. “You’re _hot_ when you’re nerdy.”

“I-I… uhm…” Nicole swallowed, then spun Waverly around, pinning her to the door and kissing her.

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Waverly rasped, her own eyes lighting silver. “Hell.”

“Shut up and kiss me.”

Waverly gave a sharp laugh, tracing the line of Nicole’s jaw with a finger. “The silver adrenaline looks good on you.” She gripped the back of Nicole’s neck and yanked her into yet another kiss. “ _Really good_.”

“Bedroom?” Nicole murmured.

“ _Our_ bedroom?”

Nicole smiled against Waverly’s mouth. “I didn’t forget.”

“Good. And God. Please. Do.”

With a soft laugh, Nicole kissed Waverly as she dragged her away from the front door, through the apartment, and into their bedroom.


	11. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter today just to get myself a little caught up. Had to deal with some stuff; sorry for the delay.

_ MARCH 19 _

 

“Well. Fuck.”

Waverly was laughing loudly, her face buried in Nicole’s shoulder in an attempt to muffle the sound.

“It’s not _funny_ , oh my _God_ , I can’t believe-”

“Nicky,” Waverly interrupted, putting her hand over Nicole’s mouth. “Look. C-Clearly we need to work on the control aspect,” she said, her voice trembling with giggles, “but this… _this_ was a fuckup on _both_ of our ends.”

“Gus is going to kill us.”

“I don’t think we broke it _that_ badly,” Waverly snickered, attempting to stand up slowly. “It’ll probably support like… yeah, no, we broke it.”

Nicole groaned softly. “Why are we like this?”

“Well, because when you get all glowy and silver you get more confident, and that’s really hot, but when I allow myself to join in it’s a bit too much adrenaline going and that sort of leads to-”

“Don’t. Don’t finish that sentence.”

“-breaking pieces of furniture,” Waverly finished with a grin.

Nicole groaned again and covered her face with a pillow. “Please kill me.”

Waverly gave a sharp laugh and headed towards the bathroom. “After that? I’m not sure anything _can_ kill you.”

 

+++++

 

“Alright. We need to talk about this. About what to _do_ about this.” Dolls drummed his fingers on the table and rubbed his scales tattoo absentmindedly. “Clearly they’re the ones doing these off-the-books killings. Releasing souls that haven’t had a chance to be Reaped. It’s all part of some plan of theirs, and it’s all focused on the Solstice.” He frowned slightly. “When _is_ the Solstice?”

“Assuming that we’re talking summer?” Waverly shrugged. “June 21.”

“Three months. Three months to figure this out. That’s plenty of time, right?” Doc laughed dryly and shook his head. “We live such interesting lives.”

“We can’t think about the time limit,” Wynonna said quietly, spinning a bottle of soda on the table in front of her. “We need to be thinking about the _number_ of Revenants that were there. Way too many for us to go up against.”

“Well, we can handle it,” Waverly insisted. “We’ll figure it out. One at a time if we have to. Or we’ll see what happens if we take out that leader of theirs. The one who seemed to be calling all the shots. Uh… Bobo.”

“Before we do that,” Dolls said, “we should try to figure out what this witch nonsense is.”

“I can look into it. You know me. I like research.” Waverly took a sip of orange juice. “And I’ll ask The Blacksmith if she has any ideas.”

“Whatever you kids do, try not to get yourselves killed,” Gus said gruffly as she dropped off a plate of waffles. “I’d really rather not have to deal with any new Reapers around here.”

“Love you too, Gus,” Wynonna said with a smirk.

Gus frowned at Nicole. “Are you okay, Nicky? You’ve been quiet.”

“Yeah.” Nicole rubbed at her eyes. “I’m just tired. My vision keeps tinting red, and it’s pissing me off.”

“Oo, grumpy Nic.” Doc grinned. “That’s rare.”

“Migraines bring out the worst in me,” Nicole grumbled, putting her head down on the table.

Waverly rubbed her back absentmindedly and looked up at Gus. “By the way, Gus, do you remember where you and Shorty bought the furniture for the apartments? The beds, specifically?” A smirk flickered to her lips as she felt Nicole tense under her hand.

“Uh, I’m sure it’s logged somewhere. Why?”

“No reason.” Waverly took another drink. “I might need to take a look at that.”

Wynonna stared at her sister for a lengthy moment before she put down her forkful of waffle and grimaced. “Oh, _come on_. Tell me you _didn’t_.”

“Didn’t what?” Waverly asked innocently.

“Didn’t… I... you… Nic…” Wynonna continued to stammer nonsense before grabbing the plate of pancakes and her soda and standing up. “I’m not sitting here with you _gross idiots_.”

Huffing softly, she stalked off to a different table, the boys scrambling after her to get pancakes.

“Why?” Nicole mumbled into her arm.

“It’s fun,” Waverly replied, stroking the back of Nicole’s neck.

“I’ll get the info on where the beds were purchased,” Gus said calmly, rolling her eyes. “For the record? You’re both lucky I love you.”

Waverly winked at her. “Love you too, Gus.”

 

+++++

 

_ MARCH 21 _

 

“Earp.”

Wynonna looked up at Nedley and gave him an easy smile, leaning back in her chair. “I hope I’m the one you’re looking for. Wave is out grabbing us lunch.”

“My office.”

There was a flicker of nervousness on Wynonna’s face as she followed Nedley into his office and closed the door behind her.

“Captain? What’s wrong?”

He was silent for a long moment, just looking at her, his hands folded on his desk. “There have been a lot of deaths recently.”

“I’m aware.”

“Some of which are… suspicious. And you and your sister don’t seem to have any leads on them yet.”

Wynonna fidgeted in her seat. “Well… no. We’re working, boss, but they aren’t giving us anything to go off of.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Nedley said mildly. He fidgeted with his tie and cleared his throat. “Look, Earp, I’ve kept my mouth shut out of respect for your uncle and your father, but I just can’t do that any longer. Because this is starting to get out of hand, and I need to know.”

“Know… what?” Wynonna asked with a frown.

Nedley leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I need to know what’s going on that you and your Reaper pals don’t seem to have any handle on the number of bodies that are dropping.”

 

+++++

 

The migraines had gone away, which had made teaching at least mostly bearable. The red tint to her vision, however, was becoming increasingly annoying. It made Nicole start to imagine that being completely colorblind might have been preferable.

As she walked home from the high school- her shadowwalking still not completely functioning –she noted just how _terrible_ she felt.

The weekend tryst with Waverly had been amazing. It had made her feel like she had felt before getting herself shot. But it was the only time that she hadn’t felt absolutely awful.

She leaned against a wall briefly, coughing into her hand, and groaned quietly.

Nicole hadn’t been sick since she was ten years old.

She had a feeling she was about to break her streak.


	12. What The Hell Did I Say

_ MARCH 21 _

**__ **

Wynonna felt like she couldn’t breathe. She just stared at Nedley, her hand tightly gripping the arm of her chair as she struggled to get air in and out of her lungs.

“You want to know how I know,” Nedley said calmly.

“Y-Yes,” Wynonna rasped.

Nedley took a slow sip of coffee. “Ward and Curtis were both cops. I worked with them. Over time, you start to figure stuff out. Learn things. _Notice_ things.” He gave a small smile. “You don’t think there’s _no_ regular humans in the world who know the truth, do you? What do you think Gus is? Reapers have regular human allies, Earp, that’s how it works.”

“That’s why you hired me,” Wynonna said quietly. “Both of us. You knew why we were doing this.”

“Mm. Not entirely fair. I hired Waverly because she’s good at her job. _You_ , sure, it was a favor because of your second job.”

The pain in Wynonna’s chest strengthened briefly, until she saw the glint in Nedley’s eyes. Her shoulders relaxed and dropped. “You’re making fun of me.”

“Teasing you, but yes.”

Wynonna sighed heavily and leaned forward, resting her head in her hands. “I don’t know what to do, Captain.”

Nedley frowned and took another sip of coffee. “What’s going on?”

“My father… Do you know how he died?”

There was a pause before Nedley said, “Curtis said he became a Revenant. Him _and_ Willa. And you had no choice.”

Wynonna cleared her throat. “Right. Well. There are other Revenants? And they’re killing all of these people. They have some sort of evil plan. But I have no idea how to stop them.”

“You’ll figure it out.”

“How am I supposed to believe that? I’ve been _trying_ and getting _nowhere_.”

“Well. Ward was your father, but Curtis– and Gus –raised you and Waverly. The two of you are good kids, and you’re smart. You’re far better than any Revenant, even if you don’t think so.”

Wynonna laughed softly and shook her head. “I don’t see how that will help us stop all of this death.”

“You know damn well how.” Nedley stood up and walked around the desk, patting Wynonna on the shoulder. “Death is a way of life, Wynonna. For everyone in our department, and everyone like you. But you’ve got enough heart that you won’t let it defeat you this easily. Have faith in that.” He patted her on the shoulder again and headed towards his door. “Everybody else does.”

 

+++++

 

When Waverly got home, she knew immediately that something was wrong.

Nicole was asleep on the couch, buried under a blanket, a cup of tea sitting on the table in front of her. While the scene wasn’t _unheard_ of, it just didn’t look right somehow. Waverly walked over and sat down on the couch just in front of Nicole’s hips, reaching out and gently brushing her fingers over Nicole’s hair.

“ _Mmfwha?_ ” Nicole mumbled.

“Are you okay?” Waverly whispered. “You don’t look great.”

“Thanks,” Nicole said in a hoarse voice.

“Nicole.”

“I don’t know. I almost feel like I’m getting a cold or something.” Nicole sleepily snuggled her head against Waverly’s hand. “M’not sure.”

“Honey, Reapers don’t get sick. We _can’t_ get sick.”

Nicole sighed softly. “Yeah, I know. Tell my body that.”

Waverly stroked Nicole’s hair in silence for a long moment before leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. “Rest. We’ll see how you are tomorrow, okay? Take off if you need to. Don’t push yourself.”

“Mm.” Nicole curled up against Waverly. “You’re bossy.”

“Damn straight.”

“I like it. Where are you going to sleep?”

“We smuggled the bed from your old apartment over to here, remember?”

“Maybe.” With a soft sigh, Nicole closed her eyes and pulled the blanket tighter around her. “I’ll sleep. Promise.”

“You had better.” Waverly kissed her on the forehead again, lingering for a long moment, before standing and heading towards their bedroom.

 

+++++

 

_ MARCH 23 _

 

It was Thursday before Waverly finally got a chance to talk to The Blacksmith about the Revenant plan.

As soon as she walked into the shop, she was immediately put into the chair with her arm dunked back into the bowl of ink.

“I didn’t think these had to be renewed this often,” Waverly commented, looking at her hand submerged in the black liquid.

“They don’t,” The Blacksmith said, examining Waverly’s tattoo. “I’m taking precautions. Since I presume you’ve been in frequent physical contact with Nicole?”

“Well. I’m not really one to kiss and tell.”

The Blacksmith chuckled softly. “You’re cheekier than your sister. Did you know that?”

“I try.” Waverly’s brow furrowed. “About Nicole… she’s not doing that great.”

“Oh?”

“She’s getting… sick. Like she’s getting a cold or something. But that’s not possible, is it?”

There was a pause as The Blacksmith checked Waverly’s tattoo again. When she finally straightened and backed up to lean against the counter, her eyes were troubled. “Honestly? I’m not surprised.”

“It’s the Revenant shot, isn’t it?”

“That would be my guess. Her aura was… _fractured_ by that shot. That’s why it caused her so much pain, and that’s why your presence and touch helped her so much. The immune system that your abilities give you is shot. It’ll heal? But it needs _time_. And until that happens, things like this are unfortunately going to occur.”

Waverly ran her free hand over her face and briefly closed her eyes. “She’s suffering so much. And it’s all my fault.”

“You didn’t shoot her, Little Earp. None of this is on your shoulders.”

“Feels like it.” Waverly rubbed at her eyes and gave a tired sigh, resting her head back against the chair. “I did have another question. The Revenants are planning something. We overheard them mention something about defeating death and a witch who’s helping them. Do you have any idea what’s going on with that?”

“A witch?” The Blacksmith took Waverly’s hand out of the bowl of ink and returned the bowl to its spot below her counter. “I don’t know much. But I have heard rumor in the past.”

“Rumor?”

“Of a woman who called herself the Stone Witch. She gained life energy, basically a little bit of immortality, every time a Reaper was murdered. Supposedly she has a spell of some kind that will take away that expiration factor and grant her permanent, unconditional immortality.”

“What would she need the Revenants for?” Waverly asked.

“I can’t say for sure. She might have figured out a way to grant them the same kind of immortality, provided they help her with getting together what she needs to accomplish it in the first place.” The Blacksmith shrugged. “I’m sorry, I really don’t know much about her.”

“That’s okay. You’ve helped plenty. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And be careful, Little Earp. The Revenants have killed Reapers far older than you and your friends.”

Waverly’s eyes darkened. “I know. But they’ve also killed a lot of innocent people. And we can’t just let that continue.”

Nodding at The Blacksmith, Waverly turned and walked out the door of the tattoo parlor.

 

+++++

 

_ MARCH 25 _

 

It was pouring rain and as cold as March could get, and Nicole was stumbling through the streets trying to finish making her rounds. Her vision was blurred just a little, hazed red in a tint that was starting to become permanent. Whatever sickness had seeped into her had made the decision to completely wreck her: aches, pains, shivers, shudders, sneezing, coughing, fever, nausea… A near-endless list of misery that surpassed anything she had felt in over a decade.

Nicole staggered as she walked down an alley, bracing her hand against a brick wall and throwing up into a pile of trash on the ground. At that point, she made the final decision that, finished or not, she physically couldn’t continue her rounds. She just _couldn’t do it_.

She slowly pushed off the wall and heard a soft mewling and splashing coming from the trashcan next to her. When she frowned and looked inside, she found a tiny black kitten soaked to the bone in a puddle at the bottom of the slowly filling container.

“Hey, little guy,” Nicole murmured. “You’re going to hurt yourself if you stay down there.” She glanced up at the dark storm clouds above her. “Ironic, coming from me.”

As she reached down to pick up the kitten, she remembered too late that animals tended not to have positive reactions to Reapers. But, to her surprise, the kitten allowed her to scoop it up into her hand and bring him out of the trashcan.

“It’s okay,” she soothed softly as the kitten huddled in her hand. “C’mon. I’ll get you dried off, alright?”

She tucked the kitten into the front of her sweatshirt and began slowly making her way back home.

 

+++++

 

“I told you not to go out there,” Waverly scolded when she opened the door and found Nicole standing there, soaking wet and shivering. “You’re sick already as it is.”

“Had to do my job, Wave.”

Waverly brushed her thumb under Nicole’s darkened eyes. “Yeah, well you won’t be able to at all in the future if you work yourself into unconsciousness, idiot.” Her gaze shifted down to the ball of fluff sticking its head out of the top of Nicole’s shirt. “What is that?”

“He was… he was gonna drown. Or freeze to death. It’s cold out there.”

“You went out there,” Waverly said, her voice low and dangerous.

Nicole gave her a pitiful look at the exact moment that the kitten mimicked her look and gave a small mew.

“Oh for God’s sake. Fine. You can keep the kitten.” Waverly stroked Nicole’s cheek softly and leaned up to kiss her. Nicole pulled away just before she could.

“You really don’t want to kiss me right now.”

“ _My_ impervious immune system isn’t shit right now,” Waverly teased lightly.

“That’s not why you don’t want to kiss me, Waves,” Nicole said, swaying a little on her feet.

Waverly studied Nicole’s face- Nicole’s _pale_ face –and lowered her hand. “… You know what? I’ll kiss you later. Just... please, baby, you have to lie down. You look terrible.”

“I kind of feel like I’m going to pass out,” Nicole admitted.

“That’s okay. Why don’t I take… you named this thing already, didn’t you?”

“… Wraith.”

“Figures. Why don’t I take _Wraith_ to get warm and dry, and you can go take a hot shower? And then you’re going to lie down on the couch with some blankets and some water and _sleep_.”

Waverly pulled Nicole into the apartment, smiling slightly at the exhausted stumble in her girlfriend’s legs.

“Can the kitten take a nap, too?” Nicole mumbled.

“Sure,” Waverly said hesitantly. “You know what? Why don’t you shower later? Just go change into something comfy and lie down. I’m not sure putting you somewhere where you can fall over is a great idea after all.”

Nicole nodded like her head weighed fifty pounds. “I love you.”

Waverly stroked the back of Nicole’s neck and carefully pulled Wraith out of her shirt. “I know. I love you, too.”

She watched as Nicole staggered towards the bedroom. Then she headed to get a towel for the shivering puddle of fur huddled in her arms.


	13. Our Town

_ MARCH 26 _

 

Waverly sat on the couch with Nicole’s head resting in her lap. She gently held the other woman as shivers ran through Nicole’s body. The kitten was snuggled under Nicole’s chin, asleep just like its new master, all fluffed up and dry.

A soft, mumbled whimper escaped Nicole’s lips, and Waverly made a quiet shushing noise, leaning down to press a kiss to Nicole’s temple.

“You’re okay,” she whispered. “You’re gonna be okay, Nic.”

She brushed her fingers lightly over Nicole’s cheek and felt a faint tingle of pain shoot into her.

Shaking her head slowly, worry putting creases in her brow, Waverly started stroking Nicole’s forehead. And did her best to ignore the pain.

 

+++++

 

_ MARCH 28 _

 

“I can’t do this, Wynonna,” Waverly whispered, leaning against the cabinets in her kitchen.

Wynonna pushed Waverly’s hair behind her ear. “You look exhausted, baby girl.”

Waverly nodded and gave a long, slow sigh. “I know it’s just a flu,” she rasped. “But this thing is _destroying_ Nicole. I’m doing everything I can for her, but medicine can’t help her because it doesn’t affect us. And she’s just… She’s a _mess_ , Wynonna.”

“She’ll get through this, Waves.” Wynonna hugged Waverly tightly, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “You know she’s tougher than that.”

“I know,” Waverly sniffed. She buried her face in Wynonna’s shoulder. “But I hate seeing her like this.”

“As you should. But you can’t wreck yourself just to take care of her, Waverly. If you wear yourself out, you’ll be no good to anyone. _Including_ Nicole.” Wynonna rubbed Waverly’s back before pulling away. “Come on, kid. You need to rest. I’ll watch to make sure Nic is alright. Okay?”

Waverly nodded again and shuffled into the living room, where Nicole was asleep on the couch. She skimmed her fingertips over Nicole’s arm, scratched the top of Wraith’s head where he lay curled up on the arm of the chair near Nicole’s head, and pulled back the blanket over Nicole. She slipped onto the couch and pushed against Nicole before tugging the blanket back up over both of them.

She was asleep by the time Wynonna sat down in the chair across from them.

After what felt like forever but was only about an hour, Doc appeared in the room. Wynonna blinked at him and frowned, holding a finger up to her lips.

“If you wake them,” she murmured, “I’ll stab you.”

He chuckled quickly and took a seat on the arm of her chair. “Duly noted.”

“What’s up? You don’t usually barge in like this.”

Doc paused for a long moment. “You know that thing that’s happening to Nicole’s vision? The red tint?”

“Yeah.”

“My vision is going black and white.”

Wynonna looked up at him quickly. “What?”

“It just started yesterday.” Doc frowned and fidgeted with the buttons of his jacket. “If it’s happening to me too, then it’s not from the Revenant shot. I would assume. Right?”

“Unless it’s contagious, but if that were the case I’m pretty sure Waverly, who I’ll point out is currently pressed up against Nicole and who I know has had sex with her post-injury, would be showing the symptoms first.” Wynonna sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Do you think… No.”

Doc glanced down at her. “What?”

“Do you think it’s the souls being improperly released? Or just something the Revenants are doing with them? Maybe it’s impacting our Sight.”

He considered briefly before nodding. “The colors do match the ones we use for Reaping. It could be that our Sight is getting muddled.”

“Great.” Wynonna sighed again and rested her head back in the chair. “How many more things can go wrong?”

“I find it’s best not to ask those kinds of questions unless you’re interested in finding out.” Doc was silent, watching Waverly and Nicole dozing together, the kitten hopping down off the arm of the chair to curl up in Waverly’s arms. “We should talk to a Revenant.”

“Oh, yeah, Doc, we’ll just sit down with one for a little chat.”

Doc leaned down to her. “I never said it would be on a voluntary basis, Wynonna.”

Wynonna looked at him. Then a smile slowly formed on her face. “You know, Doc. I like the way you think.”

 

+++++

 

_ APRIL 1 _

 

It wasn’t as hard to find a Revenant as they had been expecting.

They found one near where Nicole had been shot, a skinny, creepy vulture of a man whose name was apparently Vinnie.

“Take him somewhere,” Wynonna said to Waverly as Doc and Dolls dragged the Revenant away. “Take him somewhere, anywhere, and we’ll see what he has to say for himself.”

 

+++++

 

The group took the Revenant to an abandoned shop right next to the protected space around the Sickle & Scythe. Doc and Dolls patrolled the area around it, while Wynonna and Waverly confronted the man bound to a chair.

He refused to answer Wynonna’s many questions about Bobo’s plans.

Until Waverly, somewhat accidentally, discovered that the blade of a Reaper’s scythe caused the same sort of pain in a Revenant that a Revenant’s shot caused in a Reaper.

“If I were you,” Waverly said quietly, pressing the flat edge of her blade against the side of Vinnie’s face, “I would answer my sister’s questions. What is the deal with the witch?”

“I’m not-” He broke off with a hiss as Waverly pressed her scythe against his skin again.

She leaned down to look him in the eye. “One of you bastards shot the love of my life. She’s been going through hell because of it. Don’t expect me to find any sympathy for a Revenant. So if I were you? I would be more helpful right about now.”

“Fuck off.”

Wynonna, leaned against a nearby wall, murmured, “Waverly…”

Her sister ignored her and continued pushing the burning scythe blade against the Revenant. Continued, over and over, until the door behind her opened and Nicole stumbled into the room.

“Nicole, go back to bed,” Waverly growled, glaring down at Vinnie and refusing to look back at her girlfriend.

“No.” Nicole walked over to her, a little unsteady, and linked her fingers with Waverly. She rested her forehead against the side of Waverly’s head and murmured, “That’s enough.”

The anger in Waverly’s eyes started to deflate. “I… But he’s a _Revenant_. They-”

“I know, baby,” Nicole whispered.

Waverly stared at the Revenant, her scythe blade resting just below his eye. Then, slowly, she lowered it and took a step back, pulling Nicole with her.

“Wynonna,” she growled. “Please. Finish this?”

“Absolutely.”

Waverly leaned into Nicole’s side, tightened her grip on her hand, and pulled her back against the wall. Wynonna took a step forward, summoning her own scythe.

“I should warn you,” she said in a low voice. “I have fewer moral obligations than my sister. And I’m not as easily warned off.”

Vinnie just stared up at her for a moment, until his sneer faltered. “Fine,” he snarled. “You want to know how we’re going to destroy you all?”

“I really do.”

He shook his head and snorted. “Then I’ll tell you.”


	14. Colder Weather

_ APRIL 1 _

 

Wynonna crouched down and picked up the Revenant’s gun, wrapped in Doc’s jacket and resting on the floor. She handed it to Waverly and said, “Give this to Gus. She’s the only one who can hold it for a long time reliably. And then I want her, you, and Nicole to take it to The Blacksmith. I want to know whatever we can about it.”

“What? No. Wynonna. I want to listen to this.”

“Wave,” Wynonna said tersely. “Please go.”

The sisters stared at each other for a long moment, until Waverly reached behind her, took Nicole’s hand, and pulled her out of the room.

 

+++++

 

“I’m not sure what Wy thinks you can do,” Waverly said as The Blacksmith studied the Revenant’s weapon. “But whatever it is, we’ll appreciate it.”

The Blacksmith nodded, tracing her finger along the barrel. “I’ll examine it.” She nodded at Nicole, who was dozing off in the tattoo chair, her hand resting in the ink. “It might help me figure out something I can do for Nicole.”

“Oh, God, if you could do that I think I’d love you,” Waverly rasped.

The Blacksmith smirked and folded the weapon back up in the jacket. “You’ve already got yourself a woman, Little Earp. Slow yourself down.”

Waverly snorted a laugh and walked over to Gus, who was gently stroking some of Nicole’s hair off of her forehead.

“This kid never deserved this,” she murmured. “She’s been through enough. You all have.”

“ _We_ all have,” Waverly murmured, giving Gus a one-armed hug.

Gus gave a rough laugh and kissed her on the side of the head. “If you want to go back to Wynonna, I can wait here with Nicky.”

“No. It’s okay.” Waverly leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Nicole’s cheek. “I think I’m fine right here.”

 

+++++

 

“The Stone Witch.”

“Oh, so you’re finally speaking, Revenant Dude.” Wynonna drummed her fingers on her scythe and spun it slowly. “Are you going to be more detailed than that, or am I going to have to start making this personal again?”

Vinnie glared up at her, fidgeting in his chair. “Maybe I’d remember properly if I wasn’t tied up like this.”

“That’s tough.”

“ _Fine._ We’re going to collect the souls.”

“Meaning what?” Wynonna asked.

“The witch gave Bobo a skull. On the Solstice, he can use the skull to gather up all of the souls that we Revenants have released. And we’ll add in whatever Reaper energy we can get as well. Then he’s going to use the skull to pierce a hole through the veil between life and death.”

“Why the hell would anyone want to do that?”

“Because when he does that, Bobo will gain total immortality. And he’ll be able to grant that to all of his Revenant followers, as well. Forget this game of souls. We don’t need to deal with any of it ever again.”

Vinnie narrowed his eyes at Wynonna and continued, “That question you asked? About the tint to a Reaper’s vision? I would imagine that it’s caused by the number of souls we’ve released. We’re clogging up your Sight, you Reaper jackass. If you can’t See properly, it’s far more difficult for you to send a soul on. If you aren’t doing your job, then that’s more souls for us.”

“Wow,” Wynonna said dryly. “You guys are all real winners, aren’t you? And you play so fair, too.” She laughed without any humor at all. “Oh, right, that’s because you’re all soulless shells of what used to be Reapers, until you abandoned your posts and effectively lost all claim to humanity.”

“You can judge me if you want,” Vinnie sneered, “but Bobo knows that he’s going to get the most power into that skull if he kills an _Earp_ Reaper. One of the oldest bloodlines of Reapers in existence. You’re just as dead as I am.”

Wynonna chuckled softly. “We’ll see.” She stopped spinning her scythe. “Where can I find this… ‘Stone Witch’? Does she have an address?”

“No. But I hear that she parks her car right near the Salt Flat Pub. Can’t miss it. Bright pink Caddy.”

“Good enough.” Wynonna walked over to Vinnie, her grip on her scythe tightening.

“I answered your questions,” Vinnie snarled.

“You did,” Wynonna said. “And I thank you.”

She brought the blade of the scythe up and buried it right through his chest.

“Now make your peace.”


	15. Sounded Good At The Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I accidentally deleted my entire Tumblr, so if you were following me please come find me again. Still @youreagoodliar

_ APRIL 5 _

 

Wynonna and Waverly were sitting across from each other playing Battleship while Nicole and Wraith dozed in Waverly’s lap when Dolls appeared in the room.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he said, smirking slightly as Wynonna cursed the sinking of her submarine. “The Blacksmith called. She figured something out about that Revenant weapon that might help us out.”

“Great. Let’s go.”

“Aw, but Wynonna,” Waverly teased as she softly stroked Nicole’s hair, “I was just about to sink your battleship.”

“You were _not_.”

“E5.”

Wynonna stared at her board for a long moment before tossing it onto the table. “Fuck this game. Let’s go.”

 

+++++

 

The Blacksmith was mixing a bowl of pure white ink when they all walked into her shop, and she didn’t even look up to say, “Nicole, sit in the chair.”

“Sounds like I’m being executed,” Nicole muttered tiredly.

Waverly bumped against her arm and gave her a scolding look before leading her over to the chair and sitting her down in it. “What’s going on?”

“Just a little bit of experimentation. Well, scratch that. I figured one thing out. The other might be a little less exact.” The Blacksmith brought the bowl over and set it down on the arm of the chair. Then she held up a thick piece of leather. “You might want to put this in your mouth.”

Nicole stared at her. “Uhhh. _Why?_ ”

“Because I have a feeling that it will hurt.”

“Uhm. Then why am I doing it?”

“It’ll be good for you. Now open your mouth. And Waverly, hold her hand in the ink when I say so… _Now_.”

Whatever the new ink did to Nicole was, apparently, as painful as The Blacksmith expected. She bit down hard into the leather and tried to extract her hand, only to be held in place by a guilty-looking Waverly.

Nicole’s tattoo flashed angrily through a various series of colors before lingering on pure white, then settling back to its natural shade. She slumped down in the chair, breathing heavily, jaw still tight and tense.

“Lift her hand out, Waverly,” The Blacksmith said gently.

Once it was done, The Blacksmith wiped the excess ink off with a cloth and pulled the strip of leather out of Nicole’s mouth.

“Jesus,” Nicole rasped. “What the fuck.”

“How do you feel?”

Nicole gave The Blacksmith an incredulous look. “Like somebody just pumped acid into my veins.”

Waverly gently stroked Nicole’s forehead and leaned down to press a kiss to her brow. “What was the point of that?”

“Well.” The Blacksmith quirked an eyebrow at Nicole. “How do you _feel_?”

“I don’t…” Nicole hesitated, blinking rapidly. “Wait. Did you?”

“Mhm.” The Blacksmith put the bowl of ink under her counter. “It reversed the effects of the Revenant bullet. You want to know why it hurt so damn much? It was basically restitching your aura back together.”

“Ow.” Nicole rested her head back against the chair, her breathing starting to calm. “I don’t recommend that.”

“Don’t worry. The next thing should be far less painful.”

_“Next thing?”_

The Blacksmith pulled out a dark red ink and looked around at the group. “I’ve discovered a rune that should temporarily protect you from Revenant bullets. It will only work for twenty minutes at a time, so you can’t use it for any lengthy battles or anything like that.”

“But we could steal the skull,” Doc murmured.

Wynonna glanced at him. “What?”

“If we were immune, even for twenty minutes, we could get into that warehouse and steal the skull that the Revenants are going to use for all of their power.”

Dolls drummed his fingers against his biceps. “That’s an idea.”

“Oh, Christ,” Nicole mumbled. “I’m going to get shot again ten seconds after getting healed.”

The Blacksmith set the second ink bowl down on the arm of her chair. “Don’t be so pessimistic, kid.”

 

+++++

 

The warehouse had very few Revenants in it.

They never stood a chance.

“Get the skull,” Wynonna hissed as she put her scythe into the chest of a floppy-haired man who moved quickly towards her.

Waverly avoided two Revenants with a smooth move under their arms and headed for the table at the back of the warehouse. A Revenant fired at her, but the shot hit her and was immediately directed into the red-brown symbol on the back of her hand.

“Nice,” she muttered as she picked up the skull.

“Time to go,” Nicole said immediately, punching one Revenant in the face as she stabbed another with a twist of her scythe.

“Absolutely. _MOVE IT!_ ” Wynonna yelled.

The Reapers all vanished, ceasing the fight in an instant.

 

+++++

 

“Holy hell,” Waverly laughed as she and Nicole walked into their apartment. “That was _way_ too easy. And _fun_.”

“Do you think maybe it was a little _too_ easy? I mean sure the runes worked. We took them by surprise. But you can’t expect them not to retaliate.”

“Baby.” Waverly pushed Nicole up against the door. “I’m on a victory high. Don’t ruin it.”

“I-I… I’m not… trying… to.”

“Good.” She played with Nicole’s shirt, skimming her hands up under it. “You know. That thing you did? Punching the guy, stabbing the other? Very professional. Very hot.”

“Just… doing what I was trained to do,” Nicole stammered, her breath skipping as Waverly’s hands wandered higher.

“You must have had a _very_ good trainer.” Waverly pressed a kiss to Nicole’s throat. “Very talented. _Skilled_.”

“Mhm.”

“I wonder if she could teach you any more things in bed.”

Nicole whimpered softly. “Waverly, please.”

She felt Waverly’s grin curl against her neck. “If you insist.”

 

+++++

 

_ APRIL 6 _

 

The Reapers woke the next morning to tinted vision and mass panic.

And a city full of dozens of dead bodies that hadn’t been Reaped.


	16. After The Storm Blows Through

_ APRIL 6 _

The meeting in the Sickle & Scythe was organized so quickly that Waverly and Nicole were still half asleep, slumped together in the same chair and serving each other water.

“Now you guys know how I was feeling all the time,” Nicole mumbled, her head resting gently against Waverly’s shoulder.

“I can’t see a goddamn thing,” Wynonna grumbled as she paced and spun her scythe around in her hand. “Can’t  _ See _ anything, either. I’m going to go kill all of those Revenant bastards.”

“Wynonna,” Waverly scolded softly, “you know that The Blacksmith said we can’t use the runes so soon. She doesn’t know what it would do to us. And we all know damn well what getting  _ shot _ would do.” Beneath her, Nicole whimpered quietly, and Waverly turned her head to press a kiss to her temple.

“Yeah, Waves, I  _ know _ that. But I don’t have to  _ like _ it. I-”

“Wynonna!”

The group looked up as Gus hurried into the room. Wynonna was on her feet, scythe in hand, by the time her name was finished. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a Revenant. In the alley just outside of the boundary. He’s literally just resting on his knees, gun a few feet in front of him, hands behind his head.”

“Well then. Why don’t we find out what our friend wants?” Wynonna asked in a low voice, grip on her scythe tight.

“I don’t know,” Dolls said warily. “Might be a trap.”

Wynonna gave a dry laugh. “Today? I don’t give a shit.”

+++++

The Revenant was a dark-haired man in jeans and a dark jacket, a bandana wrapped around his neck. And he was in the exact position Gus described. When he was surrounded by Reapers, he flinched and tightened his grip on the back of his head.

“I’m not here to fight,” he said immediately. “Gun’s on the ground. I just want to talk.”

Wynonna tilted his head up with her scythe, watching him wince as the blade touched his skin. “Why should we trust that?”

“M-My name’s Fish. Ambrose Fish. I want to help stop this.”

+++++

The Revenant was tied up and sat in the same chair his fellow had been in before Wynonna killed him. Doc and Dolls stood behind him on either side, while Waverly and Nicole leaned against the door and Wynonna idly spun her scythe in front of his face.

“Go on, then,” Wynonna said coolly. “Explain how you’re going to  _ help _ .”

“Look, not every Revenant is a Revenant because they want to take over the world, or become immortal, or kill Reapers, or whatever terrible thing Bobo’s doing today,” Fish said, his voice soft and quiet. “Some of us… I was a Reaper. I became one when I was eleven years old. My dad got activated and that took me with him and neither of us knew what the hell to do. I didn’t grow up knowing how important the job was, and I never found another Reaper who could explain it to me.”

The Revenant glanced back at Dolls. “I had the same role you have. I saw the color of your tattoo. You Reap kids, right?” When Dolls just nodded, Fish said, “You know what it’s like then, don’t you? Seeing souls at the peak of youth, and knowing that they’re going to die and there’s nothing you can do. At a certain point, I just… couldn’t take it. And I hoped that maybe if I just  _ stopped Reaping _ , maybe… I don’t know. At the very least, I wouldn’t have to think about it anymore. The death. The chaos. I couldn’t stand it anymore. So I gave up. Tried to hide from it. And all that happened was that my scythe changed, I changed, and Bobo waltzes up and says he can offer me  _ more _ . A way to maybe stop the whole process. Of course I take him up on it. I’m exhausted and I don’t know what else to do. But  _ this _ ? Killing innocent people? Making deals with the Witch? This isn’t what I signed on for. This goes entirely against it.”

“Why should we believe you?” Waverly asked, tightly gripping Nicole’s hand.

Fish studied her for a long moment. “Because at this point you have nothing much left to lose.”

Wynonna sighed and stilled her scythe. “He has a point.” Doc cleared his throat sharply, and she gave him a glare. “He  _ does _ . Do you want to run at a mob of Revenants and hope for the best? We should’ve thought it through before we stole the skull. We should’ve known they’d retaliate.”

“And what are we supposed to do about it?” Dolls asked. “Just hand the skull back?”

“I…” Fish fidgeted awkwardly in his chair and looked down. “You probably aren’t going to like this coming from my mouth. But honestly? I think it would work.”

“Why’s that?”

“It’s a standstill. Bobo needs to wait for the right time to use the skull. He knows you can attack him. Giving him the skull back might calm him down enough, while also having it known that you can take it back at any time.”

Wynonna studied him for a long, silent moment. Then said, “I agree with it. But I’m putting it to a vote. Xavier?”

“Unsure, but I’ll go with you.”

“Henry?”

Doc grumbled under his breath. “Same.”

“Waverly? …Waverly?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Wynonna,” Waverly whispered, holding Nicole’s hand so tightly that it was paper white.

Nicole leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “I agree with Wynonna.”

Waverly looked up at her sharply. “You do?”

“I do.”

After a long pause, the two of them just staring at each other, Waverly said, “Okay then. I agree.”

“Fine.” Wynonna rested her scythe against the floor. “Then go get the skull.”

+++++

_ APRIL 15 _

The truce formed by the return of the skull had run for about a week when Ambrose Fish returned.

“There’s a problem,” he whispered, leaning in a darkened doorway and whispering to Doc through the barrier.

“Exactly what kind of problem?”

“The Witch.”

Doc’s mustache twitched. “That woman is not a new problem.”

“No. But she doesn’t give a damn about this truce. She wants to push the project forward.”

“How? It’s not the Solstice.”

Fish gave him an incredulous look. “She’s a  _ witch _ .”

“Right. I’ll go tell the others. We’ll go see if we can have a  _ chat _ with this witch.”

Alarm lit in Fish’s eyes. “You can’t do  _ that _ . She’ll tear you all apart.”

Doc snorted. “I think you’ll find that we’re a lot tougher than we look. Now where can we find the Witch?”

+++++

The Stone Witch had set up shop in a run down old law office that had been gutted. The inside was now completely open and empty, save for a single stone stable in the center of the room.

“Not ominous at all,” Wynonna muttered under her breath.

“This is a bad idea,” Nicole whispered.

“Don’t be such a pessimist, Nicky. I’m sure it’ll be f-  _ uck _ !” Wynonna broke off in a choked curse as she was thrown back forcefully and slammed into the brick wall behind her.

As she slumped to the ground, a voice said, “Reapers. Such an arrogant lot, aren’t you? Why don’t you just leave while you still can?”

“Why don’t you show yourself, Witch?” Dolls demanded.

“We’re here to deal with this, once and for all,” Waverly added, her voice firm and not revealing the way her hands were trembling.

The Witch appeared, seated on the desk, smirking. “But I don’t want to deal with it just yet.” She waved a hand, and Dolls and Waverly were both slammed backwards, falling next to Wynonna.

Doc and Nicole looked at each other, nodded slightly, and immediately knew what had to happen. Nicole picked Waverly up. Doc grabbed both Wynonna and Dolls by the wrist.

And they fled.

+++++

_ APRIL 16 _

“What happened?” Fish asked urgently, meeting Doc at the same spot at the same time.

“Let’s just say you were right to worry, and there were a few headaches last night,” Doc growled. “But there’s a new plan now.”

“Which is what?”

Doc reached outside of the barrier, grabbed Fish by the collar, and dragged him through it. Fish winced as sharp pain spread through his body and then quickly subsided.

“Now you stay in here for protection. Just in case. And us? Well…” Doc grinned. “We’re going to take the fight directly to the man in charge.”


	17. Now That I Know Your Name

_ APRIL 16 _

 

The Revenants didn’t know what hit them.

One minute, they were in the midst of what they assumed was still an active standstill, a forced truce brought about by their own violence.

The next, they were being sieged by Reapers.

Doc and Dolls knocked out or killed the Revenants on the right side of the room. Waverly and Nicole took the ones on the left. And Wynonna made her way straight through the center, straight to Bobo Del Ray.

“You know,” he said casually, not even bothering to get up from his chair, even after she sliced through his second-in-command, “you Earps really are a _bother_. I thought I solved the problem when I coaxed your father and sister to my side. But I really am going to have to kill you all before I intended to in order to end this, aren’t I?”

“Kill us _how_?” Wynonna asked coldly. “We waited out our turn limit. Now we’re immune to your weapons again, and you don’t stand a chance.”

“What’s your plan then, Reaper? Kill us all, take the skull, hope the Witch doesn’t slaughter you all? I can _help you_ , Earp. Save you. Save us all.”

“Yeah, or make just yourself immortal and screw the rest of us.” Wynonna pointed her scythe directly at Bobo’s face. “I’m done with this. We’re done. We’re taking the skull, and this is _over_.”

She swung to kill him. And was immediately tossed across the room into a pile of Reapers along with the rest of her friends.

“About time you showed up,” Bobo snarled, standing.

The Stone Witch walked into the warehouse, smirking slightly. “I’m sorry. Were you on a schedule?”

“We’re partners, Witch, we’re supposed to have each… other’s… backs… What are you doing?”

She was picking up the skull, holding it in her hand, turning it around and examining it. “Fascinating,” she murmured softly. “Not as much power as I would’ve hoped for. But enough.”

“I thought we had to wait for the Solstice.”

The Witch laughed, her voice high and cold. “Oh. No. That’s just the only way I could get you to behave like a good little boy. And look! It worked!” She murmured words in a language Wynonna didn’t understand under her breath, and the skull turned a bright, unnatural white. “Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Del Ray,” the Witch said sweetly.

And all of the Revenants dropped to the floor, screaming as they burned.

 

+++++

 

“Holy hell,” Waverly hissed, rolling away as the Revenant she was closest to lit on fire and disintegrated.

“What’s happening?” Nicole demanded, alarm clear in her dark brown eyes.

“Absolutely no idea.”

Amusement prickled across Nicole’s face. “But Wave. I thought you knew _everything_.”

Waverly leaned forward, giving her a quick kiss that had a little too much teeth. “If we live, you’re paying for that.”

Nicole flushed red. “Sorry.”

“Flirt later,” Wynonna snapped, dragging herself to her feet as the last Revenant turned to ash. “Fight now.”

Doc was the first one to the Witch, stabbing her through the shoulder.

Attempting to stab her through the shoulder.

All it did was bounce off her skin.

The Witch threw him backwards, smashing him into a table and sending him tumbling to the floor.

“You fools,” she snarled. “I gain immortality from humans, Revenants, Reapers, _everything_. How much power do you think the skull just gave me?”

“Well, not enough that you got better lines, that’s for sure.” Wynonna and Doc surged forward simultaneously.

Five minutes and five hundred attempts later, Nicole leaned heavily against her scythe, gasping for breath. “This is ridiculous.”

Waverly, leaning against her, nodded. “Yep.”

“Any better ideas?”

“Not unless…”

Nicole glanced at her. “Unless what?”

“Well. We could always trying destroying the skull.”

Nicole looked at the skull, tight in the Witch’s grip. “Any better plans?”

“Nope.”

“Then get the skull.” Nicole headed directly at the Witch, swinging her scythe at the hand opposite the skull. Just a moment’s delay afterwards, Waverly followed, heading directly for the artifact.

While the Witch was busy throwing Nicole into a wall, she was distracted long enough that Waverly could flip her scythe under the skull and pry it from her hands.

_“Wynonna!”_ she yelled, tossing the skull.

Her sister understood her on instinct, swinging her blade and shattering it directly through the white bone.

The Stone Witch reacted as if the scythe had gone directly through _her_. She screamed in pain, crumbling the same way the Revenants had.

As the Reapers gathered around the spot, Waverly dragging Nicole to her feet to help her, Wynonna shook her head slowly.

“Wow. That was jaw-dropping.”


	18. Clock Don't Stop

_ APRIL 16 _

 

The Reapers entered the Sickle & Scythe, bruised and battered but far from beaten.

“Next time bodies start dropping for no reason,” Doc said grumpily, grabbing a bottle of whiskey from behind the bar and sitting down at a table to nurse his bloodied nose, “I’m just leaving town.”

“My vision’s clear. I guess whatever the Witch did with that skull cleared the soul problem.” Wynonna sat across from him and stole the whiskey bottle. “Which means we have to get back to our normal routines. Normal schedules. Make sure nothing like that _ever happens again_. And if what the Witch did got rid of all the Revenants, well, I guess that might be a bit easier.”

“Not all of them,” Dolls said softly, nodding at the back corner of the room.

Ambrose Fish was slumped in a chair, looking exhausted, stress and relief both battling on his face.

“Wow. I guess the protections around this place are stronger than I thought,” Wynonna muttered. “You okay there, dude?”

“Y-Yeah,” Fish stammered, patting his chest softly as if unsure. “But I…”

“But what?” Doc prompted.

“… I’m _human_.”

Waverly blinked rapidly. _“What?”_

“Yeah, I… I felt weird, a few minutes after you all left. Couldn’t summon my weapon or anything. I even risked stepping outside the boundary to try. I-I’m human.” A slow grin spread over Fish’s face, and he looked about to cry. “I’m _human_.”

Wynonna walked over to him slowly, standing in front of him with her scythe in her hand. She gently tapped the blade against his skin, and he didn’t flinch away. “Looks like it,” she said quietly. “So what do you do now?”

“Try to live a normal life, I guess. If you’ll let me.”

“We’ll let you.” Wynonna gave him the faintest smile. “And I’m not putting it to a vote.”

 

+++++

 

_ APRIL 21 _

__

“I cleared up all of our cases,” Wynonna said, walking into the training room with her arms folded across her chest. “You know. In case you want to go into work on Monday and make me coffee.”

“Love you, sis,” Waverly replied, ducking out of the way of a slash from Nicole’s scythe.

“We’re lucky that Nedley likes us. Because you’re a prick and took a week off, and I’m so useless at paperwork that he’s going to call us back in tomorrow to throw it all back in our faces.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. Thanks for the help. Glad you did all that work for me to do all over again.” Waverly slammed her scythe down on Nicole’s, grinning as the blades struggled against each other and their owners got a bit too close, tattoos flickering silver.

“I hope you both understand how _really fucking gross_ it is, watching you do that,” Wynonna complained loudly. “That silvery thing. It’s like watching you have sex right in the middle of the goddamn training room.”

“We’re sorry, Wynonna,” Nicole said, pushing Waverly away and redirected a blow aimed at her gut. “Next time we’ll hang a sock on the door.”

Wynonna gaped at her for what seemed like an eternity. “ _Unbelievable._ You’re supposed to be the nice, polite one. This is _unbelievable_.” She pointed at Waverly. “I blame you for this. She was fine until you started teaching her things.”

Waverly smirked in a way that made it clear that Wynonna had just made a terrible mistake. “Nic’s never had any trouble knowing what to do with her mouth.”

Nicole went bright red and choked, hurrying over to the side of the training ring to get a sip of water. Wynonna just stared, slack-jawed, for another eternity.

“I honestly don’t even know what to say to that,” she finally admitted. “To hell with both of you.”

Wynonna hid her grin as she turned and walked out of the training room, listening to her baby sister’s laughter the entire way.

 

+++++

 

“Baby, you should be asleep. It’s almost four in the morning,” Waverly mumbled, blinking in confusion as she stirred and saw Nicole pacing back and forth in the bedroom. Wraith, stretched out at the foot of the bed, gave a soft meow of agreement.

“I’m sorry,” Nicole whispered. “I wasn’t trying to wake you. I just can’t sleep.”

Waverly sat up. “What’s going on? Talk to me, Nic.”

After a pause, Nicole slid back into bed, allowing Waverly to maneuver into her arms and snuggle against her.

It was another, even longer moment before Nicole murmured, “I was almost them.”

“Almost who?”

“A Revenant. I could’ve been one. Easily.”

Waverly pressed a kiss to Nicole’s jaw. “No; you couldn’t have.”

“Don’t you remember what Fish said? When we met him? His entire story is _my story_ , Wave. The only part he didn’t get is the part where I met _you_ , and the others. There’s no doubt in my mind that I would’ve given up. I would’ve been too afraid, too _lost_ , to continue. I could have been a Revenant. Instead, I found you.”

Waverly danced her fingers along Nicole’s skin, relishing the soft prickles of happiness that spread through her from the soft, electric contact. “You found me,” Waverly whispered. “And you’re _you_. You’ll never be a Revenant, Nicole. You’re too damn good of a Reaper.”

Nicole grinned and pressed a kiss to Waverly’s brow. “Always wanted to make a teacher proud. And I think, for once, I have?”

The glint in Waverly’s eyes is soft as she cups Nicole’s face in her hands. “I could never be any prouder.”


End file.
